Darbee Hays plays the part of the all-American girl growing up in rural Mississippi. Life changes after Darbee's parents make her and Tara, her twin sister, go to a private school when integration comes into the school systems. She tries to fit in with the rich social plantation farmer's daughters, becomes a cheerleader, and is elected to the homecoming court, while staying best friends with her twin sister. But, when one moment of weakness leads to pregnancy and a forced abortion, all of her hopes for the future crumble. Growing up and living in the Heart of the Mississippi Delta, Darbee faces pressure to act the role of perfection, when she and her family all know it's a lie. With the social upheaval of the seventies, Darbee has to decide what sort of life she wants: the secure, peaceful life her mother enjoys? Or a new start as a modern woman? Neither, she discovers, is the easy choice. Delta Gone is the story of a woman who chooses to leave her small Mississippi town (and tainted past) in search of bigger and better things, but finds that leaving one's problems does not necessarily dissolve them.