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I had a remarkably odd experience when working on my latest book, Leaving Before It’s Over. The novel is set in the mid-seventies in North Carolina. This is where I grew up and I anticipated a lovely, nostalgic trip “home” during the months I spent working on the book.
This happened, of course. The sights and smells of the rural South, the feeling of summer air literally settling on my skin – all of this became very real to me. As usual, I found ways to bring the food I remember from growing up into the story so that I had the pleasure of letting my characters eat all the good stuff I now deny myself. (If you’ve never had a Moon Pie, go find one.)
But in the writing of this story, something unanticipated occurred, as well.
I was sixteen in 1976, the year the novel takes place. One of the characters in the book is Lola, a 16-year-old girl. Her character and the seeds of the story originated in a much earlier novel that was never published, and while I slipped into her skin as easily as before, I found that I identified more this time around with the main characters in the book — her parents, Rosalind and Roy.
My own parents are gone now, and missed every day. Rosalind and Roy are very different from Mom and Dad, but in visiting the narrative day in and day out, it was as if, for a time, I could become a contemporary of my own parents. I almost felt them as bystanders watching the story unfold. And, as Rosalind and Roy wrangled with all of the decisions they were forced to make in the book, I saw how my own folks agonized over their choices when raising us.
I’d always seen my parents as larger than life. This book brought the details and realities of their time to me on a human scale. It was a gift really. Almost like sitting in a room with them again, but this time, with a much greater understanding of their inner lives. I’ve often experienced the feeling of escape when reading a novel, but fiction can also serve as a way to engage, as well – to connect the dots from past realities to present ones.
I’d love to know if others experience these things when reading (or writing) works of fiction. When reading books with familiar settings, does the “home” of past days seem something other than a distant memory? Do you ever mesh your newly acquired adult perspective with things familiar from your past to come up with a new respect and greater empathy for the people who shaped your early life?
If you read Leaving Before It’s Over, I hope that whether it is an escape for you or a visit back home, you will experience a sense of discovery. It is, I find, the best argument for giving your time to a book. |
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From the author of The Space Between Before and After comes a compelling novel that explores the true meaning of family.
When Roy Vines married his wife, Rosalind, he traded his family and his inheritance for love—a painful choice that has blessed them with years of joy nestled in rural North Carolina with their beautiful daughters, sixteen-year-old Lola and little Janie Ray.
But their happiness is threatened when Rosalind suddenly falls ill. Desperate to get her the help she needs, Roy does the one thing he swore he'd never do—turn to his heartless and bitter identical twin brother, Mont, for help.
The price is steep—and includes opening their home to a teenage boy who believes Roy is the father who abandoned him. As bad blood threatens to destroy her family, Rosalind must make a difficult choice. Should she walk away—like Roy once did—for love, or try to mend wounds that may never be healed? And will the pain of choosing be more than her heart can bear?
Read a review of Leaving Before It's Over on Books in the City
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Examples of duality in Roy’s life can be found throughout the book. He is a twin. He lives in a duplex and, in a sense, has had two distinctly different lives --- the life he had with Sherry before he left Virginia and the life he made with Rosalind. How have these physical and emotional realities shaped the kind of person Roy has become?
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Rosalind’s illness sets the events of the book in motion. Her blood disorder causes her to feel vulnerable and, in many ways, betrayed by her own body. What actions does she take to empower herself in the face of this ordeal? Does she succeed?
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Rosalind knew that Roy was married when she met him and yet she let herself fall in love. Based on their behavior, would you say Roy committed adultery with her? How has the lingering guilt over their actions affected Rosalind?
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In a similar fashion, Roy was tortured to find that he desired Rosalind, feelings that ran contrary to his own integrity and principles. Later, it is revealed that Roy’s first marriage was never what it seemed, even to Roy. Do you believe Roy might have sensed something in his relationship with Sherry that gave him permission to love Rosalind, or did he simply allow his heart to override his sense of right and wrong?
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Rosalind is considered by others to be beautiful, even though she never seems to reflect on this herself. The treatment for her illness will make her less physically attractive for as long as she takes the medication. Does her response to this reveal an underlying insecurity, or even vanity, in Rosalind? How do you think her physical appearance determined her choices in life and the confidence with which she approached them? How might this change when she looks very different?
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Early on, Lola makes the observation that she lives in “half of a half-empty duplex.” During the course of the narrative, she gains a “brother” as well as neighbors next door. How does Lola change as her world expands in this way?
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After initially opposing Luke’s presence in North Carolina, both Roy and Rosalind eventually decide that they should try to give Luke a home with unconditional support. This contrasts with what Roy believes the boy’s situation has been in Virginia. Do you believe that Roy and Rosalind are truly selfless in this decision? What needs might Luke fulfill in their lives and what does he offer to the family?
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Mont’s political ambitions form the foundation for his marriage to Della. Based on what is seen of his early life, did this ambition simply take over Mont’s soul or do you believe that he was born a person incapable of love and caring? Do you believe he loves Luke?
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Nanny is initially portrayed as a person driven by religious zealotry and unchecked ambition for at least one of her sons. As revelations show her actions to be even more outside the realm of normal --- reaching what many would consider true mental illness --- does this increase or decrease sympathy for her as a character?
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Has Luke’s interaction with Roy’s family reached him in time to influence the kind of adult he will become?
- In the beginning of the narrative, Mont and Nanny have been deceiving Luke about the identity of his biological father. Later, for very different reasons, Roy and Rosalind continue to perpetuate the lie. Is anyone justified in making this decision, or do you think Luke should have been told that Mont is his father, regardless of the consequences that might follow that revelation?
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