-
Bruce E Whitacre
a book bubble about
The Elk in the Glade
Literature & Fiction
Author Insight
Jennie at Thanksgiving: Family Storytelling
Family gatherings were extremely important to Jennie. She took great pride in the fact that despite tricky Nebraska weather, the family never missed a holiday. The stories in THE ELK IN THE GLADE came from moments like this, sitting with Jennie while a football game played in the background, in a house filled with her paintings. She would tell me about sod houses, digging a well, fording a river, blizzards, and how over time painting came to mean more and more to her. This was also Ruth's great moment to shine at the head of her table, and always, the stories. Writing this book gave me new appreciation for the role these women played in my upbringing.
Book Excerpt
The Elk in the Glade
The family sedan purrs down the long lane that traces
a creek bed sprinkled with plum and cedar until it eases through
a pass in the clay banks and settles in the cozy farmstead of
Aunt Ruth and Uncle Glen:
neat, two-story house with garden, a big white barn, corrals
nestled in a valley like a little village.
I slip through the steamy kitchen,
where the women wrestle the bird
and lay out the Jell-O salads for dessert,
to the shadowy living room.
Men are talking prices and sports in halting mumbles.
And there, in a corner in the good chair, she sits:
angular jaw, crepe-skinned, permed white hair,
“hard-of-hearing”
Jennie.
She smiles her three-toothed grin
and extends her bony blue arms.
I take my place beside her.
Her large mountain lake painting
seems to cover the wall opposite, above the TV.
Her voice is soft, with a lot of tongue slipping between her lips.
Her dark, bright eyes, mirrored in all three daughters,
glisten as I ask and listen.
Amazon
Barnes&Noble
GooglePlay
Apple Books
IndieBound
Kobo
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.