Hate is definite, solid. It is planted. It grows, not only above ground where it can be seen and flaunted as a shield of identity, but also below the surface, its roots reaching and penetrating into unexpected places without permission. A child can pick it up easily, too easily, especially when everything else around her seems indefinite. Beginning in 1960, covering a span of twenty years, The Elbow Grease Legacy begins with a young girl's growing awareness of her family's dysfunctionality. Events solidify hate of her alcoholic father. Frequent household relocations make a mess of Tallulah's high school years. College art classes build a sense of confidence, the value of different perspectives, and an essential habit of personal honesty, be it unpretty, be it rage. Employment, marriage, and pregnancy do not wait for her brain to clear the contaminated cobwebs. She craves sources of logic when her father's sudden death demolishes every defense she had built against him. Like it or not, she must understand him before she can understand herself