The Forgiving Kind: A Review and Audio Book Giveaway

Donna Everhart warned me that her newest book, The Forgiving Kind (Kensington, 2019) had some tough parts.

She was right. 

Like her previous book, The Road to Bittersweet, The Forgiving Kind  also features a young woman coming of age in rural North Carolina. The time is the 1950's and the place is 300 acres of Jones County--cotton territory. Although both books have young protagonists, the serious content of each novel lends themselves more to an adult rather than teen audience. 

REVIEW

Twelve-year-old Sonny Creech loves the land as much as her father and like him, has the ability to dowse water. Although her two brothers Ross (16) and Trent (14) work the farm alongside their father, Sonny's passion runs deepest and Donna Everhart brings this to life through a deep point of view showing Sonny as she runs through the soft mud, inhales the smells of the fields, and experiences the woods like an extension of herself. 

Tragedy strikes early in the book. Sonny father dies unexpectedly and her mother is "layered with sadness" as she and the children shoulder the burden of struggling to keep their cotton farm financially afloat. 

A wealthy neighbor, Frank Fowler, shows up and worms his way into the family by lending them money. From the start, Sonny distrusts him: "Mr. Fowler's work clothes were spotless and pressed. He was the type who lifted a finger only to say, do this, do that." Repeatedly Sonny observed that Mr. Fowler was nice to her mother, but spoke and acted as if she wasn’t there.

Before his sudden death, Sonny's father gave her his willow branch that he used to dowse water. Everhart describes it as, "Tugging on my lower leg muscles. The willow branch dipping to water. She couldn’t have pulled it up if she tried." The branch is a deep connection to her father but Mr. Fowler, and her peers at school make fun of her ability. When Sunny finds the burnt branch in the trash bin outside, Mr. Fowler denies his actions. 

Along the way, Mr. Fowler meets Sonny's close friend, Daniel. He reacts strongly to him and is verbally abusive. Sonny finds herself attracted to Daniel, but her attraction is not reciprocated. The two end up meeting secretly to avoid Mr. Fowler's fury.

Sonny worries about her mother not seeing Mr. Fowler's intentions: "I couldn't explain my worry anymore than I could explain how the dowsing stick worked." When they marry, Sonny's fears and unhappiness increase as she feels like her mother has betrayed her and the memory of their father. 

Through the use of deep point of view, the reader is privy to Sonny's anger, fear, conflicts, and pain. Sonny hears and sees the results of Mr. Fowler's abusing her mother. "Mama's life is getting eaten up." Her hatred towards Mr. Fowler grows when she realizes he and his friends are members of an evil white supremacist group. She and her brothers are forced to observe his gross mistreatment of Daniel and fear what might happen to any of them if they speak of it. Everhart paints a picture of a deeply disturbed antagonist that is gripping and unforgettable. Readers who are in an abusive relationship might resonate with how Sonny's mother tries to be the peacemaker and placate her new husband. 

Some readers will find the way in which Sonny's mother resolves her situation to be satisfactory and they may also be sympathetic to Daniel's plight as a homosexual. Although I thought that The Forgiving Kind is written extremely well, as a committed Christian I am uncomfortable with these aspects of this book. 

Donna was right. This is a tough book to read and digest. But a book worth reading, thinking, and talking about. 

  

GIVEAWAY

I am giving away my Audio CD, which is narrated beautifully by Tiffany Morgan, courtesy of Tantor Audio. Leave me a comment by May 2 and I'll enter your name in the giveaway. 

Here is an audio snippet from the book that will give you a flavor of the book and the narration. 

The Elephant Whisperer: A Review and Audio Book Giveaway

Every so often I page through Tantor Audio's catalog and come across a title that sounds intriguing. That's what happened when I read the description of The Elephant Whisperer (April, 2009 PanMacmillan) by conservationist Lawrence Anthony along with journalist Graham Spence. The book comes alive through the British narration of BBC broadcaster Simon Vance. 

REVIEW

One of the opening lines that captured my attention was when Anthony wrote, "Elephants taught me how to listen." As the narrative unfolds, the reader discovers that his herd of rogue elephants also taught him about trust, loyalty, respect, and freedom.

South African Lawrence Anthony's game reserve, Thula Thula, is in the heart of Zululand. He started it in 1998 with 1500 hectare, and was committed to returning the area to its original state. When he was asked if he would receive seven elephants hostile in their interactions with humans, he couldn't refuse. This was the first of many difficult choices he faced: if he didn't take them, they would be killed. 

The first herd arrived in 1999.

Contrary to popular opinion which dictated that wild elephants should have no contact with humans when brought into a new home, Anthony decided he needed to let these traumatized "magnificent" animals (his favorite descriptor) get to know him. While they were in quarantine he spend night and day outside the fence talking to them and letting them get used to him. He named them and used their names in conversation. The day that the matriarch, Nana, reached her trunk towards him, he stood still while she sniffed him. The next day he released them into the preserve. 

The book is full of Anthony's challenges. The herd figured out how to break through the electric fences and head back home. Anthony spent time and money to bring them back--knowing that the alternative was for them to be killed. Poachers (who turned out to be his own guards) killed over one hundred animals and obtained thousands of pounds of meat worth thousands of dollars. Three white rhinos were introduced into the preserve; keeping the elephants away from them was a huge task. 

One time he was pedaling a bike with his fiancé, Francois, alongside of him. They accidentally ended up in the middle of the herd. Being up against seven huge animals who were unfamiliar with the bicycle and Francois put the pair in serious danger. 

Meanwhile, Anthony spent hundreds of hours with the herd gaining their trust. One night he opened the door of the lodge to see Nana practically inside. She snaked her trunk through his bedroom window and although she could easily have picked him up and done whatever she wanted with him, Anthony stood firm and let her sniff him. Later Francois recommended a bath-- Anthony was covered in half a pint of elephant slime. 

The main house which Nana decided to visit.

Anthony developed an uncanny ability to sense when the herd was near. He felt as if the elephants could project their presence into the area. If they didn't want to be found, they wouldn't be. He could sense their deep rumblings in the bush even if he couldn't hear them. "The elephants determined the emotional feelings of the encounter, not me." Similarly, the elephants set the boundaries, not Anthony. Mostly he sat and waited for them to feel comfortable before moving closer to them.

When Anthony was gone for a week, there would be a welcoming committee of seven elephants waiting when he returned. When a fire broke out on the reserve, the elephants led humans and other animals to the Crock Pool to wait until the fire burned itself out.

In 2004 Anthony and his team of rangers rescued a baby elephant who was born with deformed feet. He and Francois cared for him in their guest bedroom.

Despite bottle feeding and intensive medical care, baby Thula died and the entire staff was heart-broken.

Anthony noted that Nana communicated with her eyes, trunk rumblings, and subtle body movements. One day he walked out to her and she walked towards him and he had no escape route. Her legs--as big as tree trunks--could crush him. But the moment he spoke to her she relaxed and so did he. "Communication is a two-way street--whether it's a person or an animal. You have to acknowledge that the communication has reached you. Or, it's all over."

By the time Anthony died in 2012, the herd numbered thirty elephants. For three consecutive years the herd returned to the house on the day of his death to mourn him.

In 2008 and then again in 2010, Thula Thula partnered with adjoining lands and increased in size by another 2300 hectare. 

The Elephant Whisperer, which will be enjoyed by children and adults, ends with a plea for conservation. For more information about the reserve--including staying there and participating in bush excursions, please see Thula Thula's website. (All pictures are from the website.) Here's an audio clip so you can hear Simon Vance's terrific narration. 

GIVEAWAY

To enter this giveaway, please leave me a comment by 9 PM on December 12. Remember--leave me your email address if you are new to my blog. This is a great present for the animal lover on your gift list!

Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy: A Review and Audio Book Giveaway

Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop from last week's blog.

When I read the blurb about MOTHERS OF MASSIVE RESISTANCE: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy (Oxford University Press, 2018) in the Tantor Audio catalogue, I thought it might provide a different perspective on the Jim Crow era. It definitely did.  

Dr. Elizabeth Gillespie McRae's work is a comprehensive, well-researched treatise on the role white women played in the politics of Southern segregation from the 1920's-1970's. McRae focuses on four women who influenced multitudes of others through their writing and political activism:

• North Carolina journalist, Nell Battle Lewis
• Mississippi newspaper editor Mary Dawson Caine
• South Carolina political activist Cornelia Dabney Tucker
• Mississippi columnist Florence Sillers Ogden. 

Since I am unable to summarize twelve hours of listening, I will share some facts that resonated with me. 

REVIEW

• In Bear Mountain, Virginia from the 40's - 90's light-skinned blacks (and possibly some native Americans) paid a lot of money to purchase "white" birth certificates. Changed birth certificates allowed children to attend the better, all-white schools. Monacan Native Americans were forced to identify as black. White bus drivers, teachers, and voter registrars were often the people who determined a person's race and generally upheld Jim Crow and the one-drop rule. See this article on Walter Plecker.
• Mildred Lewis Rutherford (1851-1928) was a pro-confederate daughter of a Georgia plantation owner who paved the way for pro-segregationists white women. As the historian general of the Daughters of the American Confederacy, she believed that whites were superior, state governments should dominate schools and social welfare and textbooks should be censored. McRae said she "single-handedly reinvented the South."
• Women's suffrage in the South gave a platform to support Jim Crow. McRae described Florence Ogden as a "subversive columnist." Besides being anti-integration she also supported anti-immigration legislation. 
• Cornelia Tucker's efforts in Charleston, SC led to the rise of Republicans in South Carolina and Eisenhower winning the vote in 1954. She was against European refugees and wanted blacks purged from the Republican party.
• Nell Lewis, the first female reporter for the Raleigh News and Observer, considered The Birth of a Nation the best film ever. At the same time that she wanted to end child labor, promote mental health reform, abolish capital punishment, she was also against labor unions since she believed they were pro-Communist. McRae writes that Lewis's stories upheld white supremacy as white women were the "guardians" of racial segregation. 
  
• White women were angry with Eleanor Roosevelt for eating with blacks in North Carolina.
• During WWII, segregationists feared white women working with black laborers. They wanted to protect workplaces for returning white soldiers.
• Cornelia Tucker linked Communism with civil rights. Her battlefield was school textbooks. 

  

  Montgomery, Al anti-school integration protest. 1961

https://blackpast.org/classroom/how-use-controversial-images-engage-students-history

• Many southern women defended segregation as what "God began and wanted." 
• They appealed to women's maternal duty to protect their children from mongrelization; there was a pervasive fear of miscegenation.

  

  Baltimore, 1954
  Image via AP

• Many white southern women feared progressive education that included curriculum which studied other nations.
• Members of the DAR condemned the United Nations. 
• After the Brown decision in 1954, black parents feared sending their children into white schools that were hostile to their children. They lived with fear, uncertainty, and hope. 
• In 1956, following the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, North Carolina "patriots" wrote to black families asking them to reconsider going to white schools.
• When Emmett Tillett was murdered, one of the women (I believe it was either Nelle Lewis or Florence Ogden) wrote, "There is no outcry. It must not have happened."
•  Calling upon their duty as mothers, segregationist women thought white schools would prevent interracial marriage and maintain white supremacy. They feared federal court decisions which would challenge their private lives. They blamed the Jews, communists, socialists, and NAACP for integration attempts. 
• In North Carolina alone, there were 28,000 people who signed petitions against the Brown vs. Board of Education decision.

  

  Little Rock, 1959

• In Little Rock, AK closing Central High in 1958 was the white women's victory to mobilize their children and preserve white schools. 
• In Virginia and North Carolina "school choice" was a way to avoid integration. 

  

  September 2, 1970, protest at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public School headquarters. White students adopted the 'freedom of choice' language that segregationists had invoked since the Brown decision. While black youth in the NAACP watched as white students pledged support for integration but not for the busing that would accomplish it. Courtesy of the Charlotte Observer and the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

• In the mid-1970's Boston mothers who were opposed to busing, looked to southern women for direction. The bus, not the children became central. Complex class politics, working class concerns, and maintaining property rights were central in protecting white privilege for these "true American women."

Anti-busing rally in South Boston
Spencer Grant Collection
Boston Public Library

Here is an audio snippet narrated by Kristen Potter. Ms. Potter does an excellent job articulating the book and using a southern, genteel voice as appropriate.

Click below for an interview with the author.

GIVEAWAY 

I am giving away my copy of this audio book. Please leave me a comment by November 15. Share it on social media or become a new follower of my blog and tell me what you have done, and I'll enter your name twice. 

Eyes on the Prize - Audio Book review and Giveaway

Congratulations to Megan Hoyt and Becky Scharnhorst who won copies of Viviane Elbee's book, Teach Your Giraffe to Ski.

It's hard to review a book that covers the entire Civil Rights period in as much detail as Eyes On the Prize by Juan Williams does. The book, suitable for adults and young adults, is simultaneously comprehensive, academic, and personal. Williams wrote it as a companion to the first season of the NPR series with the same title. As noted below, several segments are now on YouTube. 

Even though I have read many books on the civil rights era, William's book showed how one event led to another--like dominoes falling in succession. I recommended it to one of my experts, Vermelle Ely, who enjoys audio books. When we had talked previously my questions were about Charlotte and Second Ward High. When I asked her about Little Rock she said, "Sure we knew about it. But back then, news didn’t travel so fast." Her remark was historically revealing.

Although I have chosen different portions of the book to highlight, it is very difficult to summarize any of these historical events. For more detail--please read the book!

PART I

https://youtu.be/Ts10IVzUDVw
1954-1956

Charles Hamilton Houston served as a mentor to a generation of black lawyers leading up to the Civil Rights period. He was instrumental in attacking the "separate but equal" rules that governed the Jim Crow South. He investigated educational discrimination by creating movies of the schools for black children. Although he started with elementary schools, his goal was to develop graduate programs that were nonexistent for blacks. Houston was instrumental in pulling together the cases (including the historic challenge in Clarendon County, SC as I blogged about here) to create the lawsuit that eventually led to the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. Interestingly, Williams said that Emmit Till's murder did more for civil rights than Brown vs. the Board of Education as it brought the plight of southern blacks to national attention. 

PART II

 https://youtu.be/4D5xwC6M_Gk
1957-1962

Since blacks frequently used buses for transportation to work, Williams noted that it was no accident that bus boycotts throughout the South became the stage of protest. "Indignity suffered alone was debilitating, but indignity shared was powerful."  Although blacks feared white reprisal for their boycotts (losing their jobs and physical violence) a growing sentiment was that the time had come to take a stand for freedom. 

During this time Martin Luther King, Jr. preached nonviolence. Segregationists put pressure on white commissioners not to give in to black boycotts. The boycotts received national attention and

bus segregation started to be challenged in courts. 

The behind the scenes politics in all the cities, but especially Little Rock, AK were fascinating.  Desegregation was a political football from the local level all the way up to President Eisenhower. The politicians, including Governor Faubus, were often more interested in grandstanding than fair play. 

It was also interesting to track the role of the NAACP Youth Council as young adults and college students became involved in the movement. Williams features Diane Nash, John Lewis, and Jim Lawson who were leaders in nonviolent protests at lunch counters throughout the South. President Kennedy was deeply influenced by the student protests and became an important advocate of civil rights. An interesting segment at the end of the book details where these individuals were in 1987 when the book was published.

PART V

https://youtu.be/aP2A6_2b6g8
1962-1964

In this section I heard the sad story of Medgar Evars, a WWII veteran and civil rights activist who was murdered in 1963 by a Klansman. "All we wanted was to be ordinary citizens. If the Japs and Germans didn’t kill us, it looked like white Mississippians would." He was rejected at the University of Mississippi law school and was very active in the NAACP. This invovlement could lead blacks to being called niggers, alligators, apes, coons, possums and was often equated with being a Communist. 

Similar to the political maneuverings in Little Rock, the behind-the-scenes events among the Mississippi delegation and Lyndon B. Johnson's negotiations at the 1964 Democratic convention were insightful and fascinating. 

I can't possibly summarize Freedom Summer in 1964 when blacks were trying to register to vote. Whites threatened economic reprisals even though at times the blacks were better educated than the whites registering them. It was a summer of violence when President Johnson was spending money on Vietnam while blacks were being killed. But black teenagers singing the Star Spangled Banner and the marches from Selma to Montgomery were a source of inspiration to many. 

Williams noted that the decade between 1954 and 1964 saw more social change and more court decisions than any other decade. The lives of blacks and whites were forever changed because of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954, the Civil Rights Act of 1960, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Television forced the print press to be more honest. The white perspective was no longer the only one heard.

Listen to this audio snippet of the book and see what a fine job actor Sean Crisden did. 

GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment by October 4 with your email address if you are new to my blog. Tantor Audio will provide a code for the winner to download the book.

The Hero Two Doors Down: A Review and Audio Book Giveaway

Congratulations to Jo Lyn Worden who won JUNK and to Dorothy Price who won BULLY.

*****

The Hero Two Doors Down is perfectly titled. Written by Sharon Robinson, Jackie Robinson's daughter, this fictionalized account of eight-year-old Steven Satlo's friendship with his hero, is a book that elementary age boys and girls will enjoy.

The year is 1948 and baseball is king. In New York, you are either a Yankees or Dodgers fan and Steve and his father share a great passion for the Dodgers. The author paints an authentic picture of the time period: neighbors sitting out on their front stoops listening to the game on the radio, going to an opening game as a huge occasion for a young boy, and school chums playing stickball together. Although Sharon Robinson says this is a work of fiction, it is based on the stories which Sharon heard her mother and Steve's mother tell. 

Central to the book is Steve's excitement when he hears that Jackie Robinson, his hero, is moving onto his street  Although this section of Brooklyn had been primarily a Jewish neighborhood, the Robinson family is one of the first black families to integrate the area. When some neighbors protest, Steve learns valuable lessons about prejudice from his father. 

Steve is thrilled when Jackie accompanies him to the school yard and teaches his peers how to slide home, provides tickets to a game for his class, as well as when he is invited to decorate the Robinson's Christmas tree. Since he's Jewish, this was a first time experience for Steve. A misunderstanding ensues when Jackie and his wife Rachel buy the Satlow's a Christmas tree--not knowing their friends are Jewish. 

In many ways Jackie Robinson was a role model and inspiration to Steve. Jackie had a rough childhood and encouraged Steve to solve problems peaceably and not with force. The two were lifetime friends and Jackie comforted and encouraged Steve after his father died. 

Chris Andrew Cuilla and Lisa Renee' Pitts both did a great job as narrators. This book would be a good classroom resource for third and fourth graders. 

To entice you, here is an audio snippet of the book and the trailer, narrated by Sharon Robinson.

Younger children will like the picture book Jackie's Gift: A Baseball Tale for the Holidays also by Sharon Robinson.

GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment by August 23 and your email address if you are new to my blog. If you share this on social media or become a new follower of my blog I'll enter your name in the giveaway twice. 

Behind the Scenes with Donna Everhart- Part II

Last week Donna Everhart, author of The Road to Bittersweet, relayed how she discovered her story, why she made Laci Stamper autistic, and why she included a traveling carnival. Thanks for coming back for this concluding post as we look behind the scenes of her writing process.

QUESTION #1

CAROL Were you conscious of the themes you wanted to include as you wrote, or did they come out of the story?

I was not, at first, conscious of any themes and I didn't write with this in mind at all.  This is something that often happens for me through the simple process of beginning to explore a story.  I've said in the past I'm a true pantster sort of writer,  (i.e. write by the seat of my pants) and although I'm writing to a contract - meaning I have to put together a proposal for each book consisting of a synopsis and the first three chapters -  there are still many aspects to each story not covered when it's sent off to my editor.  My synopses tend to run about five pages, but then I have to sit and write about three hundred pages and while I have the overall main ideas down, there's still plenty of room to explore. This is usually how I end up with something happening like a theme.  

In this story, I began recognizing there was an overarching theme and in this case, it was obviously the water.  As I began to put together the instances where it had a significant impact to my characters, the most obvious was the flood.  Then there was the necessity of drinking it for survival.  That, along with the fact that (without giving away any spoilers) it can kill us by drinking it, this all began to surface (no pun intended!) as a true foundation of this story.  Then I began to view the waterfall as having significance, as if their lives were in a free-fall, and that they really had no sense of control for much of what happened to them.  I love when I have those unanticipated moments in writing where something unexpected adds in a layer, making it more meaningful and significant. Those are the moments which I find truly magical, and I wish they'd happen more often!  

CAROL: That's interesting because for me, the theme was about Wallis Ann accepting herself. I loved the carnival chapters becausetthen she was forced to think about who was "normal" and who the "freaks" were. The ending was perfect!

QUESTION #2

CAROL: What can you share about your research process?

DONNA: I hope this doesn't come as a disappointment, but I mostly relied on good old Google.  I did speak to one person on the phone who was a lifelong resident in Jackson County and I needed her to clarify how the bridges that were out impacted the flow of traffic - although highly unlikely that there was "traffic," per se.  I found her on some site that blogged about Jackson County, and it was really happenstance to find her and that site. She confirmed you could go northbound, but not southbound on Highway 107 for instance. Little details like that matter.  

I also spent an extensive amount of time researching about dialect for that timeframe too.  What's been amusing to me, is when I talk about the dialect used in the book at a book event, and I tell those who came just before I read the book that Wallis Ann will say things like, "I won't going there," instead of "I wasn't going there."  Some laugh and shake their heads and say, "Well shoot, that's how I talk anyway."  (and they're not from the mountains.  :)   

One particularly helpful site where I studied about dialect was done by the University of South Carolina, College of Arts and Sciences.  I listened to actual recordings taken in 1939 of residents in various mountain counties of North Carolina, and Tennessee.  This work was done by a gentleman by the name of Joseph Sargent Hall or his assistant Bill Moore, and the transcriptions and recordings are available to listen to and read.  They have done an extensive amount of work on this site for the speech patterns of Appalachia - which the pronunciation of in of itself can get people worked up, as in whether you say App-a-LAY-cha, or App-a-LATCH-a.  

I always find this part of the work really interesting, and feel as if I

come away from each book with a little bit of knowledge I'd never had before.  Like the fact they called Coca-Cola "dope."  The fact that Wallis Ann and Laci could have Snickers, or Lays potato chips, and what cotton candy was called back then (spun sugar).  I learned about making a log cabin, and how to start a fire like Wallis Ann did - using "punk wood" and quartz rock.  Other parts of the research had to do with studying topography maps as I wrote (click on the link to see the map Donna consulted), so that I could put Wallis Ann and her family into certain areas with some sense of what they might have experienced while traveling. One part that I studied long and hard was along the Tuckasegee River, as well as the ridges nearby like Cherry Gap and Cullowhee Mountain.  I will be going to that area later this year, and can't wait to take pictures of the river and possibly some of the other spots mentioned in the book.

Donna Everhart

A SONG INSPIRED BY THE BOOK

Last week I shared a picture depicting Laci. Here is "The Pretty One" written by Pam Tillis. This is part of Shari Smith's ingenious TRIO exhibits: "One book is given to both a songwriter and a visual artist. They write a song and create a work of art inspired by the book they read fulfilling their TRIO. Each TRIO selection will be installed as part of an exhibit debuting at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance in September of 2017 and traveling to museums, galleries, and literary events throughout the following year."

Donna is working on her fourth book, SHINE MOUNTAIN (working title). The main character, Jessie Sasser, is sixteen years old, who is quite unhappy with her lot in life.  Born into a family legacy of moonshining, she wants no part of it because she's certain it killed her mother. The story takes place in 1960, in Wilkes County, in an area known as the Brushy Mountains. 

GIVEAWAY

This is your last chance to enter the giveaway for the Audiobook fantastically performed by Amy Melissa Bentley. Random.org will select a winner on Thursday, June 28. Leave me your email address and name and I'll add your name to the list. If you've already entered that's okay, I'll add your name again!

And one last thing. Check out the cover reveal for Donna's next book, The Forgiving Kind. It's gorgeous!

Behind the Scenes with Donna Everhart--Part I

Congratulations to Darlene who won the seven audio book giveaway last week.

*************

As promised two weeks ago, Donna Everhart generously agreed to give us a glimpse into how she developed THE ROAD TO BITTERSWEET. (If you haven't had a chance to read my review, I hope you will now. This interview will make a lot more sense if you do!) I find it fascinating to see how authors come up with their stories and I bet many of you do too. 

QUESTION #1

CAROL: How did you decide on the main idea for the story? Was it hearing about the flood of 1940 in Silva, NC?  

DONNA: I was nervous about coming up with an idea for my second book after my debut, THE EDUCATION OF DIXIE DUPREE was so well-received.  It's hard to follow up a story like that, one that's gritty, graphic, and delivers such a gut punch. 

One thing I did know; I wanted to write something very different, and I wanted to set the story in the North Carolina mountains, first, because I love the region, second, because it has so much history.  I've stood at many a lookout on a bright day with the sun shining, staring at the peaks and valleys, watching the shadow of clouds passing over the hillsides, enjoying the beauty of the scenery, yet, I have also felt a sense of the mysterious, and an appreciation for the rugged hardiness of those who came and made a life for themselves in the area.

Back in the late 90s, my husband and I hiked to a preserved, historic cabin in Doughton Park, called the Caudill Cabin.  It's maintained by descendants of the Caudill's and North Carolina's Parks and Recreation system.  The hike, which totaled fifteen miles, was strenuous, but worth it.  Getting to see something built in the early 1900s and that was still standing, was extraordinary.  This cabin, as the signage says, is one of the only remaining structures left standing from the 1916 Basin Cove flood. It housed a total of eight people, two parents, and six children. The number of inhabitants originally was thought to have been sixteen, but someone at some point (maybe a member of the Caudill family) corrected that.  The interior of the cabin couldn't have been more than about 150 square feet, and it was mind boggling to think about it sheltering eight individuals. 

Caudill Cabin, Hikers of Iredell Club

I am fascinated by this sort of thing, a piece of history right before my very eyes, and I have always had this tendency to want to let my mind wander about, thinking about the people who lived in it, how they managed to survive, picturing what their lives must have been like.  On top of that, there was the flood that forced this family to move.  I did some research on flooding in the western part of North Carolina and learned there had not only been the 1916 flood, which the Caudills were part of, but one in 1940, which was just as devastating. I began to think, "what if a family tried to make it after this sort of devastation happened?"  I had to believe there were some who did, and then I began to think, "exactly how would that work? If they had nothing?"

Pictures from Donna's hike with her husband. Look carefully at the picture on the lower right
 and you can see Donna peeking out from the cabin doorway.

The combination of my love for this part of my home state, the interesting hike to a cabin that depicted the reality of the lifestyle, and the floods all provided the inspiration. That was a LOT of material to work with, and after I settled on the 1940 event as the timeframe I wanted to write about, I began writing. 

Near Marshall, NC 1944

QUESTION #2

CAROL: Why (and perhaps how) did you decide to make Laci autistic? 

DONNA: The why likely comes from the fact I like to work in areas where I have little knowledge, to explore differences in order to better understand them. A lot of progress has been made with regard to autism, but just like those who first began to diagnose it in the 1800s, who knows where the research will be fifty years from now.  The term "idiot" was used in earlier time frames for those who appeared to have strange behaviors, and seemed incapable of learning in the same way as the rest of society.  I researched about autistic savants, those who have an uncanny ability for mathematics, music, or memory.  We likely all think about the movie RAIN MAN when we think of an autistic savant.   

According to the Autism Research Institute, "The reason why some autistic individuals have savant abilities is not known... Dr. Rimland speculates that these individuals have incredible concentration abilities and can focus their complete attention to a specific area of interest. Admittedly, researchers in psychology feel that we will never truly understand memory and cognition until we understand the autistic savant."

How I decided is the desire to include what might offer a different twist, to explore a uniqueness in a very different setting from today, to consider unusual situations a family might encounter with others, and their perspectives. I began to think what if there was a young girl in 1940 in a remote area, with extraordinary musical talents, who'd been diagnosed as an "idiot savant."  What would this mean to the family dynamic, and in particular, how would it impact a younger sibling?  

Laci by Cyndi Hoelzle
This picture is a part of Trio.

QUESTION #3

CAROL: Why and how did you decide to include a traveling carnival? 

DONNA: Although I haven't been to our state fair in about twenty years, I do remember how captivated I was as a child when my parents would take me and I'd see all of those mysterious colorful banners and the carnies screaming about "Freaks!" and "Come see them all!" There was this air of suspense, and intrigue as I passed by the tents.  My parents never allowed my brother or I to go see the Man With The Alligator Skin, or, "The Two-Headed Goat," for instance, but I sure wanted to. People who were being exploited back then, like the bearded woman, (androgen excess, or hypertrichosis) can today be explained away by a medical reason, but there is this wish as a kid to believe in the bizarre, the inexplicable, when it comes to the "attractions" that were and are so typical of those traveling shows or carnivals. Because of Laci's situation, it seemed like this would make for an interesting dynamic to the story, to have them experience something they'd never experienced before, yet to have it sort of backfire when one of their own is used for that exploitation.

Aside from that, it was also the fact this family had been through so much post-flood, and I needed some way to give them a break, a reprieve.  Because they performed in some sort of musical capacity from the beginning, I felt it could work as a natural progression for the story.  I actually thought about having them stick to what Wallis Ann feared - go around the countryside "begging."  However, this was just coming into the post-Depression era, and while I knew people of the mountains would gladly give what they had, they wouldn't have much to spare.  In reality, the Stampers wouldn't be able to do this for long and get anywhere.  I could see early on if I wrote it like that, I was setting them up for more failure and when would the starvation, hardships ever end?  How would I turn the story so they stood the chance to not only survive, but to recover what they'd lost?  

                             Clogging Video by David Hoffman, shot in 1964

Come back next week for Part II when Donna shares some aspects of her research.

GIVEAWAY

If you are interested in winning the audio book of THE ROAD TO BITTERSWEET (courtesy Tantor Audio) please leave me your name and email address, particularly if you are new to my blog. I'll draw a winner on June 28.

DONNA'S NEXT BOOK! 

THE FORGIVING KIND, will go on sale, January 29th, 2019, with an official publication date of February 5th, 2019. That story is also a southern fiction coming of age novel, and is about a

twelve year old young girl called Sonny Creech, who lives with her family in Jones County NC, on a cotton farm. Sonny has the special gift of water divination, a talent she shares with her father.  After a tragic accident claims his life, she and her family become entangled with a reclusive neighbor named Frank Fowler who offers to finance that year's cotton crop. It's set in 1955.