SeniorNet Books is fortunate to have Mary Alice Monroe join our Book Club Online discussion of Sweetgrass
Mary Alice Monroe ~ Posts to the Sweetgrass book discussion.
Oct 3, 2005 -- Interesting to read
Here is is, the first Monday in October and I am delighted to join Seniornet's discussion! I will try to visit frequently this month.
It is interesting for me to read the comments. You all are astute readers! Annafair's comments concerning antiques touched home to me. I live with antiques that have been in the family for many generations and every hurricane season I worry what will happen should a big storm hit. Yet, I love living with the furniture of family. Sigh. At the end of the day, they are all only things. After we all watched the tragedy of Katrina and Rita, we saw how all that truly mattered was family. And therein lies the heart of Sweetgrass. What is family? What are the ties that bind? This is a difficult realization, however. Like Ginger's tree (above), when we think of the loss, our hearts grow heavy.
Oct 5, 2005
Reading the comments in this wonderful discussion brings a tumult of emotions back to me, the same ones roiling inside of me as I wrote the novel. The writing process is often so intuitive. By the time I write, I've lived with the characters, their problems, their issues, etc. for so long the dialogue pours out of me. I structure my stories, know the themes, develop story arcs, outlines, etc. In the end, however, the writing is more like just closing one's eyes, plugging into the source, and taking dictation. Or, as someone once said--Writing is easy. You just open up a vein and let the blood pour over the keys.
So, your comments are so fascinating to me. It is gratifying for me to see how my thoughts are, indeed, grasped by the readers. Symbols, too, for I use symbolism heavily in my novels. The storms, the gardens... Hats, your remark about Mama June not "tending the garden" is right on. You all will read later how Mama June stopped tending the kitchen garden, and the reasons why. This parallels her failure to tend to her family.
The comments about dysfunctional families is right on, too. Rather than use that term, however, think about the opening of Anna Karenina.
Happy families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. ...
Oct 10, 2005 -- Another week
Hello all! I am enjoying this discussion very much. I'll try to comment as well as answer some questions.
A Moses basket is a long basket that a baby can sleep in. Many have handles for carrying.
The name June with a precedent name is common here. ie: Sarah June, Mary June. And calling a mother "mama" is also common. When I heard someone referred to as Mama June, it all clicked. I KNEW that was her name.
I should have had Adele and Mary June go to Converse in the 1950s!
I just returned from a family wedding. What a glorious celebration. Some of my best moments were when my siblings and I sat and remembered stories from our youth. Yes, the past is recalled in a series of moments. I once read that we tend not to remember the sad times. When we recollect the past, we remember the happy moments. I think this is true. At least it is for me. Those special moments shimmer bright.
In Sweetgrass, Mama June had to journey through the past--the good and the bad--to reach truth. She was lost in the fog of a hazy past because of false memories or deliberately discarded/avoided ones. After all, she followed her mother's advice of, "don't think of that now." I think many people do this from time to time. In her case, the tragedies of Tripp's and her son's deaths were overwhelming. I sympathize with that kind of loss.
I see Mary June as a kind hearted, somewhat naive though intelligent girl who was swept away with love and the heady idealism of Tripp. As some of you said, it is part of being that age. But Mary June grew up. Part of Mama June's journey was to remember WHY she fell in love with Preston, and in remembering, she fell in love with him all over again.
Oct 18, 2005 -- Paving Paradise
The Charleston Post and Courier is doing a series of articles on our beautiful Marian National Forest. I did not realize that hundreds of these acres were privately owned. They are now in danger of being sold to developers, which would mean houses springing up inside the forest. This could seriously disrupt the habitat of many wild species. How sad. While I was on book tour this summer I drove through the beautiful farmlands of the midwest. So many farms bordered developments and one knew just by looking that it was merely a matter of time before that farmland became housing development, too. Am I the only one who wonders what we all will be eating in the future?
Oct 19, 2005 -- Communication
Have a wonderful visit in Wisconsin, Denjer! I just returned from Milwaukee for a wedding. A beautiful place.
I was moved by many of Denjer's and Hat's comments about openness and honesty in families. I come from a large family and have learned that if there is a big issue that everyone is aware of--perhaps not supposed to know about--yet no one openly acknowledges, it is like having a big elephant in the middle of the room that everyone pretends they don't see. The psyche always knows.
In the Blakely family, there was a failure of communication. Secrets divide families. That is one of the reasons I had Preston become mute. His forced silence was not only symbolic, but it forced communication. Not just verbal, but communication with other senses as well. The touching between Mama June and Preston was critical to their reconnect ion.
My father was a pediatrician and he always told young mothers to touch their babies, to massage their backs, etc. Lack of touch in premature babies causes failure to thrive. Why would that change as we get older? Don't we all sometimes just need a good hug?
Only when the Blakely family began talking and sharing and revealing their soft underbellies did they break down the walls and connect again.
They did communicate once. Before Ham died. I wanted to show how the family was happy, once. The adventures on The Project, the dinnertime chats, the laughing... Mama June shut down after Ham's death, as often happens to a mother after the death of a child. Rather than get therapy, she held her pain in, locked it away, as she locked away the letters. I read just today a bit about Pandora's Box. She opened the box and released all the pain, sadness, illness, etc. then closed the lid again. She heard one more, small voice in the box crying for release. This was the voice of hope, and she released it, too. I thought this was apropos for our discussion
Oct 22, 2005
Hats, I come from a large family; many of us were premature. Interesting idea about writing about it. Hmmm...
Yes, there IS a Vickery's restaurant. It is at Shem Creek.
Your discussion of Long Marriages is fascinating. I'd thought when I wrote it that many readers would reflect on that. I do not think it is uncommon for long marriages to experience a period of, say, exhaustion. No more surprises, mundane comments, loss of shared interests, etc. The question is: what can we do to bring back the spontaneity? The spark? The freshness and romance? The friendship? One of the most important aspect of writing the novel for me was the exploration of this question through Mama June and Preston. This was, I feel, a great love story.
The other critical point was to answer the question of how we deal with family members and personal needs/hurts/greed when a family property is sold. When threatened, a person's best and worst qualities are revealed. Some members rise up to meet the challenge. Others wallow in self interest. And still others make a statement by remaining mute. I think I am most disturbed by the latter. I've gleaned from your comments that some of you are facing just such questions. True?
Oct 27, 2005
It's difficult to go back to the hearts of all these characters and recall their struggles. I do know that for each of them, the decision --with the help of prayer, reflection and love from each other--to let go of anger and earthly dependency on things was the step needed to move forward in peace and unconditional love AND forgiveness. Forgiveness was key for all of them. The letting go of bitterness and pain to finally have space for acceptance and joy.
The one scene that was most emotional for me was the scene with Morgan at Blakely's Bluff when he cried out to his brother. I had written that scene three times. In the first draft of the book, I had spent much more time developing the love story between Morgan and Kristina. In that first draft, Morgan was in bed with Kristina at Blakely's Bluff when he had the nightmare. He had the after-discussion with Kristina. It didn't work as she came across as a therapist.
The second time I wrote the scene with Mama June running in. That didn't work. Then I had a dream of Hamlin and Morgan. I woke up, went directly to the computer and wrote that scene, crying all the time. I knew I had it right. Every time I read that scene, I tear up.
Someone asked about Parsifal. I didn't know that I would use that legend in the novel until I was rewriting it. Actually, I was more focused on the Prodigal Son aspect. My sister (and muse) Marguerite asked me if I was writing about Parsifal and my mouth dropped open for I saw it all so completely. I think the mind works in mysterious ways for I've always loved that legend and it was likely all in my subconscious. Plus, I enjoyed having Mama June tell a long-overdue bedtime story to her son. She's cuddled in bed again with her daughter after the ghost episode, now she's a mother with her son. It reinforced her grabbing back the reigns of motherhood. And didn't her children need this?
I'll come by again. I'm truly enjoying your discussion!