Family Linen

The Story

Booker Creek, North Carolina, 1983. Three adult sisters and their brother gather under the watchful eye of their imperious 70-year-old mother, Miss Elizabeth Hess, for what should be a simple birthday celebration. But when eldest sister Sybill recovers a traumatic childhood memory through clinical hypnosis—a stormy night in 1940 when she witnessed something unspeakable involving her mother and father—the family's carefully buried past begins clawing its way to the surface.

The Hess Sisters:

Sybill (50) – The eldest and most accomplished, a Language Arts professor who has spent her life trying to be perfect and acceptable, now confronting the possibility that her entire childhood was built on a lie.

Candy (44) – The warm, curvy middle sister who runs the Beauty Barn, married and divorced multiple times, who knows more about everyone's secrets than she lets on.

Myrtle (40) – The beautiful youngest sister (daughter of stepfather Verner Hess), married to the successful Dr. Don Dotson, still clinging to her high school cheerleader beauty as she turns forty.

Arthur (late 40s) – The charming ladies' man brother, still living in town, still breaking hearts, still avoiding responsibility.

As the family converges, the mystery deepens: What really happened to Jewell Rife, Sybill's biological father, on that stormy night in 1940? Did Miss Elizabeth kill him and stage it as an accident? And what other secrets has she buried in her elegant brick home with its antique mirrors that reflect far more than anyone wants to see?

Southern Gothic Atmosphere

Set in the "Crepe Myrtle City of the South" against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Family Linen explores the suffocating weight of family secrets in a small Southern town where everyone knows everyone, and reputation is everything. The story weaves between 1983 and 1940, revealing how one violent night shaped four decades of silence, lies, and carefully maintained appearances.

Themes & Elements

Buried Trauma
The psychological cost of repressed memories and family secrets that span generations.

Southern Respectability
The exhausting performance of perfection and propriety, particularly for Southern women expected to maintain grace under all circumstances.

Family Loyalty vs. Truth
The moral dilemma of whether to protect the family name or confront uncomfortable truths about the past.

Mirror Imagery
Recurring motifs of mirrors and reflection—seeing oneself clearly, confronting what's been hidden, the difference between appearance and reality.

Tone & Comparison

An elegant Southern gothic mystery with the family dynamics of Big Little Lies and the slow-burn tension of Sharp Objects. Combines intimate character drama with the atmosphere of buried secrets threatening to explode.

Source Material

Based on the acclaimed novel Family Linen by Lee Smith, published in 1985. Smith is a celebrated literary voice who has received numerous honours including the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and the North Carolina Award for Fiction. Her richly textured storytelling provides exceptional source material exploring family, memory, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

The Screenplay

The pilot screenplay adaptation was written by Clarinda Ross, a seasoned playwright, screenwriter, and actor born in Georgia and raised in North Carolina. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing for Performance at University of California, Riverside (Palm Desert) and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, and Actors' Equity Association.

Her plays have been produced at Equity theatres and published by Applause Theatre Books, The Kenyon Review, and The Coachella Review. Her adaptation of Family Linen was a finalist in the NYWIFT Lab series sponsored by Meryl Streep.

The pilot script is available for review upon request.

Format

Limited series (6-8 episodes) or pilot for ongoing drama series