Hello, and welcome to “Stories I’m Old Enough to Tell.”
I struggled with what to call this newsletter. I wanted a title that suggests a nod to the writing and publishing life, to the stories behind the stories, and to some hard truths about life in general and aging in particular. At 81, that’s where I am—well into my “third act,” you might say.
And then my husband reminded me of a book by a powerful but often overlooked Mississippi writer, Ellen Douglas. You may not have heard of her. Most of her writing life was spent in the shadow of that giant among Mississippi authors, Eudora Welty. Douglas’s novel, Can’t Quit You, Baby (1989), an incisive and heartbreaking portrayal of a white Southern woman and her “maid,” preceded Kathryn Stockett’s The Help by 20 years. Douglas wrote stories that resonated with the issues of her time (and ours).
“This is a story that has been waiting for me—and now I am old enough to tell it.” — Ellen Douglas, Truth
When she was 77 years old, she published a book called Truth: Four Stories I Am Finally Old Enough to Tell (1998) in which, having outlived those who might be most affected by her stories, she could finally tell “family secrets.” The first chapter of Truth opens this way: “This is a story that has been waiting for me—and now I am old enough to tell it.”
That’s how I feel about my literary historical novel, THAT PINSON GIRL, coming out February 6, 2024. This book has been waiting a long time. I began it nearly 15 years ago, and the (sometimes rough) road to publication is an important part of my story. So are the stories behind the book: the family lore, the memories, the hard relationships, the complexities of place, the timeless issues that still haunt the Mississippi I call home.
So I’m borrowing the title from Ellen, or Jo, as I knew her. Her real name was Josephine Haxton; she adopted Ellen Douglas as a pen name early in her writing career to protect those she cared about. I don’t think she would mind.
I hope you’ll subscribe to “Stories”! Substack provides a safe space for both writers and readers. The newsletter is free, at least for now; there may be content later on that’s accessible only by paid subscription, but let’s see how it goes! I hope you’ll read—or listen; it’s pretty easy to create audio content on Substack, and I’m excited to do that—and enjoy and comment often.
Photo: early novel notes, Gerry Wilson