Interview with author Bernice L. McFadden
Gathering of Waters
A Little About the Book...
Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi--a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families.
Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximilian May and relocates to Detroit.
Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.
Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well as the town's families, and threads their history over decades. The bare-bones realism--both disturbing and riveting--combined with a magical realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's Beloved.
A Little About Bernice L. McFadden...
BERNICE L. McFADDEN is the author of nine critically acclaimed novels including Sugar, Loving Donovan, Nowhere Is a Place, The Warmest December, Gathering of Waters (a New York Times Editors’ Choice and one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012), and Glorious, which was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. She is a three-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist, as well as the recipient of three awards from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). She lives in Brooklyn, New York. The Book of Harlan is her latest novel.
Her Website.... Please take the time to check this out!!!
The Interview!!!
Hello, Austin. Thanks again for the opportunity!
4.) The quote that follows is from your book "Gathering of Waters" "Listen, if you choose to believe nothing else that transpires here, believe this: your body does not have a soul; your soul has a body, and souls never ever die."
I think this quote is so powerful and amazing, because as I read it I felt so much emotion in the way the words were formed together, as other readers read this quote, what lesson do you hope they gather from it?
5.) When you write what are some steps in your writing process, and what inspires you to write?
6.) Are you working on anything new?
1.) Ms. McFaddean you've made a difference in the field of literature with your works, how did you get started, and why did you become an author?
BLM-I learned to read a very young age and became immediately enchanted with books. I decided at the age of 9 that I wanted to become a novelist. I started a short story writer but was unable to find a publisher for my collection. I read a book that said that it was difficult for unknown writers to publish a collection of short stories and that it was best to approach agents/editors with a full novel. So, I spent nearly a decade working on my first novel, SUGAR. After many re-writes and 75 rejection letters, I secured a literary agent and a week later I had my first book deal.
2.) Your book "Gathering of Waters" is told from the point of view of Money a town in Mississippi. Where did you get this idea to write from a towns perspective, and was this an easy or difficult task?
2.) Your book "Gathering of Waters" is told from the point of view of Money a town in Mississippi. Where did you get this idea to write from a towns perspective, and was this an easy or difficult task?
BLM-I usually write with a feminine voice in my head, but as I was writing Gathering of Waters - that's not the voice I felt narrating the story. I thought maybe it was a masculine voice, but after a few chapters, that also didn't feel authentic to me. After some grappling - I simply asked aloud: Who is telling this story? And the response was the opening line of the book: I am Money. Money, Mississippi. No, it wasn't difficult at all.
3.) Your book is influenced by two huge historical events: The Great Mississippi River flood of 1927, and the murder of Emmett Till. Was it difficult to from your story around these events, and what did you learn about them?
3.) Your book is influenced by two huge historical events: The Great Mississippi River flood of 1927, and the murder of Emmett Till. Was it difficult to from your story around these events, and what did you learn about them?
BLM-I love history which is why I've gravitated to writing historical fiction. I absolutely look forward to the research part of what goes into writing my novels, so I don't consider it difficult - but it is very time-consuming. I learned quite a bit about those two events and Mississippi and no matter how much things may change, many things remain the same.
4.) The quote that follows is from your book "Gathering of Waters" "Listen, if you choose to believe nothing else that transpires here, believe this: your body does not have a soul; your soul has a body, and souls never ever die."
I think this quote is so powerful and amazing, because as I read it I felt so much emotion in the way the words were formed together, as other readers read this quote, what lesson do you hope they gather from it?
BLM-I hope that readers will tap into their empathy and use that emotion to better themselves, which will in turn better the world.
5.) When you write what are some steps in your writing process, and what inspires you to write?
BLM-I'm inspired by hidden histories. When I discover something in history that is not widely known, I spend a months or years researching the event as well as the sub-events - until the core of the story is fully formed and then I begin the physical process of creating the story on paper.
6.) Are you working on anything new?
BLM-I'm editing a novel that takes place in Ghana, called: Praise Song for the Butterflies
7.) What message would you like to send your readers?
7.) What message would you like to send your readers?
BLM- I want my readers to know how much I adore and appreciate them and I hope that I will be able to inform and entertain them for many more years to come.
Want to buy her books.....
THANKS....
Thank you again Ms. McFadden for letting me get to know you, and your works a little better. Can't wait for your next book!
Looking at Lit,
Austin.
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