The Vine Of Glory by Mary Jackson King

A repressed, inhibited, small-town girl, Lavinia, at the mercy of elderly tyrannical relatives, forms a close friendship with an African American man who was her only childhood friend. The friendship between Lavinia and Augustus is purely platonic,; she attends a school he has set up for African American girls who wish to improve themselves, and he helps to find her a job; but enraged small-minded bigots bring on a lynching.

Early in the book we discover Lavinia’s unfortunate friendship with Dixie Murdoch, teen-age daughter of a Holy-roller preacher. While spending the night, Dixie attempts to make homosexual advances to the younger girl, and Lavinia becomes hysterical. The episode is brief, condemnatory and very realistic.