CAVEDWELLER

From Dorothy Allison, the bestselling author of Bastard Out of Carolina, comes the story of a woman whose past and present collide when she returns to her native Georgia to come to terms with what she abandoned, to reclaim what was lost, and to find what she never had.

Long ago, Delia Byrd (Golden Globe nominee Kyra Sedgwick, Phenomenon) escaped from an abusive marriage to Clint (Emmy nominee Aidan Quinn, Benedict Arnold), abandoned her two young daughters, and hitched a ride with rock singer Randall Pritchard (Golden Globe nominee Kevin Bacon, Mystic River) who was touring through her hometown of Cayro, Georgia. Without looking back, Delia built a new life at the top of the charts and the bottom of the bottle, and, with Randall, had a third daughter, Cissy (Reagan Arnold, Blue Car). Now, after Randall’s sudden accidental death, only one thing matters more to Delia than anything else. With the grieving and rebellious Cissy in tow, she heads for home, launching a journey of a thousand miles and two decades to reclaim her roots. Her wish is to regain custody of the children she left behind. But that means confronting the demons of her first marriage, the hostility of her in-laws, the bitter attitudes of an unforgiving community, and winning back the trust of her two daughters.

Delia’s redemption begins by forging a hard bargain with the cancer-stricken Clint: if she tends to him, he’ll grant her the opportunity to reclaim their daughters, the religiously fervent Amanda (Vanessa Zima, Ulee’s Gold) and wild child Dede (April Mullen, The Ladies Man), from the grip of their controlling grandmother. It’s also time for a rebirth of sorts for the outwardly hostile but vulnerable Cissy, who discovers in her exploration of a nearby cave a passage “to her dream self,” the strength to seize her own future and the freedom to accept her true sexual orientation. As Delia ferociously struggles with sobriety, with the emotional demands of her ex-husband, and with three single-minded offspring, a profound understanding of the complicated and imperfect ways of the human heart begins to emerge. With unsparing honesty and sprawling ambition, Cavedweller chronicles lifetimes of rage, strength and survival, of blood ties and madness, of the redemptive power of forgiveness and the great puzzle of love, and of the conflicting emotions that can both bind and divide a family.

Cavedweller is executive produced by Kyra Sedgwick, directed by Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon), and co-stars Golden Globe nominee Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks), and Grammy-nominated soul musician Jill Scott.