Click to order:
One Sister’s Song
A novel, a dream, a gift.
By Karen DeGroot Carter
One
Sister’s Song is a novel I began writing when my first child turned one.
The entire process took eight years; I started writing this book in pieces in
The main character in my book,
Audrey, struggles to understand the bond she shared—and still shares—with
her late sister, Laura. Audrey tries to fill in for Laura―to live in her
sister’s house, to raise her sister’s teenage son―while she strives to
fit the pieces of her disrupted life back together:
Another
scraping sound grew louder. Audrey glanced toward the corner of the house,
listening for hints of her nephew’s discontent as he pounded a metal rake
along the side lawn.
“You’re
going to break it, Julian,” she grumbled. She thought of Laura doing yard
work, sinking her fingers deep in the soil. Laura joking with Julian, rather
than nagging at him all the time. Laura urging Julian to walk, reading to
Julian, consoling Julian. How can I do as well? Audrey wondered. Why in the
world did she leave him with me?
That
night in her room, the narrow guest room where she’d always slept while
visiting, Audrey dreamed of a running figure―some sort of
fugitive―who had haunted her dreams since Laura’s death. Bent beneath a
wide-brimmed straw hat, the fugitive appeared boyish and slight in baggy pants
and a loose tunic. Bare ankles showed above makeshift shoes as the figure
stumbled through ruts and rocky paths, under the protective cover of dense
trees. Stooped shoulders and missed steps made it evident a long way had been
traveled, and exhaustion was near.
One Sister’s Song also is a dream of a book for me, a first-time author who can now hold, sign, and give to people a gift of my own tangible dream come true, over and over again. The second edition of my novel epitomizes this dream; its original cover art was designed by a very close friend, a friend who lives in an old farmhouse with a trap door in the dining room floor, a friend who gladly shared the challenges of owning a historic home, encouraging me in her enthusiasm to finish this book and see it through publication.
But getting a book published is
only part of the dream. Readers are part of that dream, too. One reader sent me
a bookmark made of hand-made paper and a simple, treasured, note: “Thank you
for writing this book.” I have no idea what about my book affected her, what
compelled her to respond in this way, but I’ve received similar empowering
reactions from others, reactions that indicate this book impacts people.
Something in it compels readers to consider their perspectives regarding love,
race, and respect, just as the writing of this book forced me to rethink my own
understandings of these powerful themes.
One
Sister’s Song is a gift. It’s a gift I can give to people, but it’s
also a vehicle through which I receive gifts, sometimes in the form of a
handwritten note, an enthusiastic e-mail, or even a congratulatory phone call,
sometimes in spirited feedback from a book club. My book explores a variety of
issues, from racial identity and discrimination to sisterhood, single parenting,
and grief recovery. While readers seem intrigued by the Underground Railroad
details woven into the plot, many are also eager to learn about biracial
families like mine and the special challenges faced by people of mixed descent:
“I
hate that question: ‘What are you? Are you adopted or something? Come from an
island somewhere? It’s like people need a tidy answer because they can’t
figure it out for themselves, and that drives them crazy.”
In the interview with me posted on the Pearl Street Publishing website, I suggest that by the time my children are adults, no one will be surprised to hear that two of their grandparents were African-American and French-Canadian. The challenge for their generation will be to refuse to assume anything about anyone; to know others can surprise you with their true identities and experiences, and to remain open to those surprises. I wrote One Sister’s Song to help promote such understanding, to shed some light on an issue that’s rarely explored in literary novels. Not only does my book celebrate the differences among us, it honors the people among us who cross boundaries and abandon comfort zones every day, leading us in a noble quest toward a more honorable, more tolerant world.
At the same time, One
Sister’s Song celebrates sisters and the unique, tremendous ties sisters
often share. While my main character, Audrey, sometimes resents the power her
sister wields even in death, she blesses her sister’s memory and cherishes
every sliver of understanding she slowly, painfully, grows to accept:
Everything
in [her great-aunt’s] home was dark, and cool, and comforting, from the
hardwood floors to the rugs that muffled them, to the cushioned settee in the
parlor and the thick banister. Audrey tried to imagine her father as a boy,
racing through these rooms, banging in the back door and upstairs to retrieve
some treasure. But she could see, most clearly, Laura lounging on the settee,
Laura with her brown face pressed against a screen window to smell the summer
rain, Laura skipping out that same back door to join their cousins as they
chased fireflies in the dusk. Audrey could see, because she’d been the one
watching, always watching, while Laura led the way.
If you would like to ask questions of the author or make comments please Email to: askauthor@pearlstreetpublishing.com .
To access Pearl Street Publishing click: ©Pearl Street Publishing, LLC 1999-2006