Myra McLarey, formerly of South Paris and Norway, has written her second novel, “The Last Will and Testament of Rosetta Sugars Tramble.”

The book begins with the burning of a church and the nearby house belonging to 96-year-old Sweetie Wilhite under suspicious circumstances in southwest Arkansas in 1988. Previously untold stories come to light as the reader is taken back to 1899, where the story moves back and forth between Sugars Springs and Bethel, the twined black and white townships in McLarey’s acclaimed book “Water from the Well.”

McLarey taught English at Oxford Hills High School for nearly 20 years. She grew up in southwest Arkansas, listening to countless porch stories. Years later, while doing course work on a doctorate in history, she conducted research in African-American history, concentrating on southwest Arkansas. Her writing draws upon both her research and those porch stories.

McLarey also taught in community colleges, master’s programs at Emerson College and the University of New Hampshire, at Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Finance and at Harvard University. She lives in Nashville, Tenn.

“The Last Will and Testament of Rosetta Sugars Tramble” is scheduled for release on Oct. 1. It will be available at Book N Things in Norway.