When Viola Davis was a baby, she relates, her parents moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, with their three youngest children. She describes the town and, in particular, Gabe’s Store, run by a kind man who would let her mother have groceries on credit and even lent her money sometimes. They were extremely poor and lived in difficult conditions, often without electricity or gas. One of their early apartments was infested with rats. The building was condemned, and the mayor allowed them to stay there for free.

After two years in Central Falls, the Davises brought their two older children back to live with the family, including Davis’s older sister Dianne. Viola greatly admired the intelligent and determined Dianne. She describes what a skilled storyteller Dianne was. When Viola was five, Dianne told her that she needed to make sure her life was more than “this,” the life of poverty and struggle that their family lived.