Vines is an original novella about an African-American family haunted, both literally and figuratively, by the past. Set in the fictional town of Warren Hills, North Carolina, in 1969, a time of great change, three generations of the Taylor family deal with their own great change when the unfaithful, yet loveable, patriarch of the family passes away. Throughout the work, the Taylors attempt to cope with a series of traumatic losses while they also try to redefine home. Miss Mamie tries to come to terms with the fact that her perfect, Christian home may never be. Jackson struggles to feel at home with his homosexuality in a region and household where such is unspoken. Meanwhile, Joy, Jackson's mother, possessing the feistiness of her father coupled with the magic of her people, continues to run away from her true family and home she has yet to accept.