I must have looked at that word on the first page, third paragraph of my novel, PROVENANCE, at least 100 times.
A young black man, caught after dark in a sundown town, is running for his life.
“We’re Richard Whitaker’s boys, you know us!” he shouts over his shoulder as he tries to escape what could be a fatal consequence for just arriving in town on the late ferry. The racist sheriff responds,
“Then you know! No niggers ‘llowed in town after sundown.”
There it is, the N-word. For the time, 1909, the place—a fictional coastal town in southern Virginia—and the situation, the language is authentic. However, in today’s still racially challenged world, like other racial slurs from our recent past, the word still stings. Today, it is not politically correct to use the N-word; I debated whether to change that word to one that was more palatable, more attuned to today’s sensitivity. I decided to leave it in because it is so visceral, to serve as a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go when it comes to matters of race.
There are still places where people of color are considered a threat like they were in sundown towns throughout the this country; though the blatant signs once posted with the message, “Nigger, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on You In (fill in the name of the town) are thankfully a thing of the past.
There are still people who hurl the N-word around to demean and hopefully destroy. Though not my intention, some will say I perpetuate the power of the word by using it. Outside of this literary context I believe that may be a valid argument. However, in PROVENANCE, my novel about a family’s determination to survive and thrive despite the overt racism that scarred the early 20th century, my goal is to demonstrate that the N-word is powerless in the face of self-determination. It becomes meaningless if you realize it defines not one single thing about you.
Racial identity in American has never been just Black or White. Long before the idea of post-racial, there was Passing. In her novel, PROVENANCE (Creative Cache; $26.00; October 15, 2015), Donna Drew Sawyer explores America’s third race—Americans whose ambiguous looks allow them to pass, virtually undetected, into another racial group.
With the art world as its backdrop, PROVENANCE weaves historical fact with fiction to paint a vivid picture of race in America from the perspective of one family across three generations. It is a sweeping, complex, art infused coming-of-age story like Donna Tartt’s THE GOLDFINCH; akin to Lalita Tademy’s CANE RIVER as a family saga; its flawed yet captivating characters evoke Philip Roth’s THE HUMAN STAIN and in its haunting tale of fear and racial secrets, PROVENANCE is reminiscent of Nella Larsen’s seminal classic, PASSING. Perfect book club fiction, PROVENANCE is a page-turner that keeps readers pondering long after the final page. For additional details on the book and author click on the link below.
My novel, PROVENANCE, is now available in bookstores. It has taken me the better part of eight years to get from Page One to Published. Family and friends who knew I was on this journey had stopped asking about the book—it had gotten to that awkward stage where they wondered if I’d ever finish. I did finish, and today I’m happy to let everyone know the book is available from all major booksellers!
A Little About Provenance
The title of my novel is a term for the history and origin of a work of art; the provenance determines that work’s value to the world. My novel, PROVENANCE, uses the art world as a backdrop as well as a metaphor to paint a vivid picture of three generations of a family who deny their history and origin in order to shape their own destiny. It is a story about the value of family, friendship and culture, and how it all determines our value to each other and the world.
I hope you’ll be intrigued enough to learn more about PROVENANCE: A Novel, read it (there’s a preview on Amazon) and please share the news with your friends and family. It is available through all of the major booksellers in hardcover, paperback and eBook editions. If you click this About Provenance link, it will take you to a the retailers carrying PROVENANCE.
I’d love to know what you think of the book. Please leave me a review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can also leave me a comment on my website, because then, we become part of each other’s provenance.
From my publisher’s publicity department! I like it!
PROVENANCE ON SALE NOW!
Sweeping Debut Novel Explores America’s “Third Race.”
In America, racial identity has never been just Black or White. Long before the idea of post-racial, there was Passing. In her epic debut novel, PROVENANCE (Creative Cache; $26.00; October 15, 2015), Donna Drew Sawyer explores America’s third race—Americans whose ambiguous looks allow them to pass, undetected, into another racial group.
With the art world as its backdrop, PROVENANCE weaves historical fact with fiction to paint a vivid picture of race in America from the perspective of one family across three generations. It is a sweeping, complex, art infused coming-of-age story like Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch; akin to Lalita Tademy’s Cane River as a family saga and, its flawed yet captivating characters evoke Philip Roth’s The Human Stain. PROVENANCE’s haunting tale of fear and secrets is also reminiscent of Nella Larsen’s seminal classic on race, Passing. PROVENANCE is perfect book club fiction—a page-turner that keeps readers pondering long after the final page.
“So, what’s your book about?” From the moment you tell anyone you’re writing a book, that is the first question they ask. I struggled with that question. I knew what my book was about, what I had trouble with was trying to wedge my saga—three generations of a family, over five decades, with multiple characters, male and female, all integral to a story about racial discrimination, passing, coming of age, sex, love, friendship and lies; that takes place in Virginia, New York, Paris, Florence and Montego Bay—into a succinct description that will pique someone’s interest and, can be delivered in about 15 seconds. I never did learn to do that elevator speech thing well.
Now I have to deal with the ultimate “what is your book about” challenge. In the crowded world of fiction, an author gets just a couple of chances to answer that question for a reader. What can I do to get someone who doesn’t know Donna Drew Sawyer from Adam or Eve, interested enough to consider reading a book by moi?
The first hurdle, getting a prospective reader to notice, then pick up the book in a bookstore or choose it from an online bookseller’s array of literary fiction, is accomplished by the cover. Initially, we all judge a book by its cover. The second hurdle—which is higher—is the marketing blurb, those few words that grab a reader’s attention and compel them to want to read more.
Blurbs are used everywhere; book covers, dust covers, catalogues for online and brick and mortar bookstores, book reviews, items and mentions, publicity pitches, author introductions and more. The blurb, sometimes shortened to a couple of paragraphs, sometimes used in its entirety, is the way you talk about a book in almost every context—it is a key part of that extremely important first impression. If the cover and the blurb do not do sell your book, your book does not sell!
Many of you have already told me how much you love the cover for PROVENANCE, I love it too. I was fortunate to work with a couple of wildly talented designers, Francesco Di Biase and Federica Quadrelli, in Milan, who understood the book’s essence and were able to distill it into a cover that makes you want to pick it up and turn in over. Now the blurb must work its magic.
After input from some wonderful marketing people and my dear beleaguered friends who know the book from the fifty-eleven-dozen times I’ve asked them to read it, we’ve crafted the blurb for PROVENANCE that appears below.
I would love to know if we accomplished the job – would you pick this book up and take it home? Please let me know what you think.
PROVENANCE is an exciting and emotional tale about the redemptive power of love, the healing influence of the arts and the ultimate aspiration—freedom. In an expansive saga that weaves historical fact with fiction across five decades and three generations, PROVENANCE is about an American family determined to escape the barriers of race, class and gender.
By challenging a privileged society designed to make it impossible to achieve anything, PROVENANCE’s flawed and captivating characters succeed by gaining unparalleled access to everything. However, they must ultimately come to terms with who they are—evoking Shakespeare’s caution, to thine own self be true—or pay the price for living a lie.
On his death bed, Hank Whitaker confesses to his wife, Maggie, and 18-year-old son, Lance, that he is a black man—passing for white. Hank’s revelation changes everything for his family. Richmond’s racial integrity laws make Maggie a criminal and, despite his racially ambiguous appearance, Lance must now abide by the brutally restrictive laws that govern the lives of Negroes in the segregated south.
Lance and Maggie, at the insistence of her indomitable mother, Charlotte, flee the provincial south for Paris; hoping to defy racism like many African Americans did in the early 20th century. Seeking solace in the cafés, clubs, salons, galleries as well as the boudoirs of the City of Light, Lance finds purpose within the vibrant community of talented artists and wealthy expatriates who define the art world after World War I. Like his father before him, Lance’s glorious life, based on secrets and lies, eventually begins to unravel, exacting a heavy toll on him and everyone he dares to love.
