“Book it! Local authors share history through stories”  

Please join us on Tuesday, November 17 at 7pm at the Holy Cross Church for a special program featuring four Lowcountry authors (three of them are Daniel Island residents) who have woven important stories of the past into their books’ themes. These talented writers will share insights about their most recently published works…and what they learned about history along the way. Attendees are invited to a special book signing reception with the authors after the program.

Ben Pogue will discuss his historical fiction novel, In the Shadow of the Songbird, set in Charleston, in the early nineteenth century.  The book utilizes a cast of characters in the household of a wealthy slave holding merchant, Horace Pickens, where his teenage daughter, Dora aims to establish her own social conscience, and seeks to undermine slavery.  The Nullification Crisis, exacerbated by the threat of abolition, threatens Horace’s investments and places the two of them in conflict—a theme that resonates in our society and political forums today.

Angela Williams’ Hush Now, Baby is a coming-of-age memoir “which explores the complexity of race, family, love, loyalty, self-awareness and forgiveness.”  The book honors Eva, Angela’s nanny and a maternal figure to her, but also the thousands of African American caregivers who reared Southern children during turbulent times in the South.

Crystal Klimavicz’s The Days of Not So Long Ago is a collection of short stories about some of Daniel Island’s oldest living residents. They are moving, poignant stories about their childhoods, their families, and the many experiences that shaped their lives. Her subjects grew up during the Great Depression and a time of multiple wars in our nation’s history. It was a simpler time when people had very little yet appreciated everything, a time when families stayed and worked together, and an era of hope for an easier life for the next generations.

Judy Enter is the author of The Way Home, as well as a number of other novels. Her latest work explores the life of Bobby Chapin, who reluctantly returns to Charleston, the city of his mangled childhood, after being summoned by his father’s death. Rachael, his stepmother and one-time family friend, becomes his affable agent and savvy sidekick as Bobby, under protest, steps into his father’s shoes and traces his philanthropic life through the Low Country of coastal South Carolina, North Carolina, the Bahamas, and Haiti. This old southern family has an obvious love and respect for its roots in the vintage city of Charleston where their 18th-century mansion looks out on historical Charleston Harbor.