Dancing on the Edge of the Roof: A Novel (the basis for the film Juanita)

At forty-one, Juanita Lewis is running away from home, courtesy of a one-way ticket to Montana, a place that seems about as far away from the violence and poverty of the Columbus, Ohio, projects as the moon. She wants adventure and excitement–if such things exist for a pre-menopausal African American woman with three grown, deadbeat children.

Juanita’s new life in Paper Moon, Montana, begins at a l...