Irene Latham is a member of Class of 2K10. Her novel, Leaving Gee's Bend has just been released by G.P. Putnam's Sons. I asked Irene to give us a summary of the novel and what inspired her to write it.
Ten-year-old Ludelphia Bennett has only ever known the log cabins, orange dirt, and cotton fields of her small sharecropping community. But when Mama gets deathly ill, Ludelphia does something drastic – she leaves Gee’s Bend for the very first time.
Mama needs medicine badly, medicine that can only be found in Camden, over forty miles away. It’s a dangerous journey, but Ludelphia weathers each challenge in a way that would make Mama proud, including documenting her journey – her story – in a new quilt for Mama as she goes along. In the end, Ludelphia’s courageous adventure saves the day for Mama and all of Gee’s Bend.
I was inspired to write this book in 2003 when my husband and I traveled to New York City and viewed the Quilts of Gee's Bend art exhibit at the Whitney Museum.
Comments