The Optimist's Daughter is a fictional novel about a woman, Laurel Hand who recently moved from Mississippi to the large city of Chicago. Soon after her big move, her father, Judge McKelva, was told he needed eye surgery because of a detached retina. Laurel decided to head back to her original home, New Orleans. After her father's surgery, he failed to recover and eventually passes away due to old age. When Judge's second wife, Fay, and Laurel travels back Mississippi to bury their husband and father, truth comes out about Fay which forces her to move back to Texas. Laurel eventually finds love, family, community, and friendship in her hometown of Mount Salus, Mississippi and decides to carry that respect for herself when she moves away once and for all (Welty).