Local author Priscilla Wilson hosts book signing this weekend at The Gourd Place.
Staff Reports
Longtime Sautee artist and writer Priscilla Wilson has added a new medium to her repertoire: historical fiction.
"Artists are a diverse group, but one thing we have in common is the desire to try different means of self-expression," she said, adding that her dream of writing a novel long preceded her years as a visual artist.
The novel is titled Herstories, with the subtitle Twelve Generations of Women Speak, 1604-1986. The author's own female ancestors provide the basis for twelve mothers who pass down a journal of family history to their daughters. For the earlier characters, she says, few facts were available other than their names, dates, residences, and names of their children.
"This basic information provided a kind of outline around which to structure the novel," Wilson said. Each chapter of the book is purportedly written by one of the twelve women, but their stories naturally overlap and create in effect a 350-year plot incorporating American history. The author's hope is that the novel allows readers to experience history through the eyes of ordinary women whose public roles were severely limited.
"As I age, I'm becoming increasingly fascinated with history," said Wilson, "and writing this book taught me much about our country's amazing story." Her first ancestor to come to the United States was born in England in 1604 and came to Jamestown in 1621.
She added that she experienced parts of American history anew as her characters lived through colonial days; the American Revolution; westward expansion via Cumberland Gap and the Wilderness Road; migration south to Mississippi; life during the Civil War; and the twentieth century.
"I was surprised to discover amazing and interesting stories about my own ordinary family," said the author. "I encourage others to utilize ancestry research as a window into history. Educating ourselves about our forebears is not about pride or shame in my view but a vehicle for learning and renewed patriotism." She adds that free records are available through familysearch.org.
Wilson will host a book signing at The Gourd Place on Sunday, August 3 from 1-5. Visits at other times can be scheduled through www.gourdplace.com. Additionally, the book will be available at Mt. Yonah Book Exchange at 3779 Helen Highway.