Inspiration for THE PRECIOUS JULES

Even as a young child, I knew Rosewood was a horrid place. The Rosewood Center, formerly known as The Maryland State Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded, was the kind of place you drove past in the family wagon and held your breath to ward off a curse. It was the insult you tossed at a playmate who missed a pitch, stumbled for no reason, or flunked the math test. You belong at Rosewood.

The Rosewood Center was founded in 1888 with the humanitarian goal of preparing children with intellectual disabilities for independent adulthood. But over the decades it had morphed into an overcrowded, understaffed custodial institution where children and adults with myriad disabilities were warehoused under abhorrent conditions. Scandals hit the local and national news starting in the late 30s.

One such scandal involved the release of 166 female patients essentially purchased by wealthy families to serve as unpaid household staff, many of whom were subsequently abandoned by the “owners’ and kicked to the curb. By 1936 the reality of what had become of these women caused outrage in the community but with so few options available for the mentally challenged population at large, little changed at Rosewood and conditions continued to deteriorate. By 2008 and just prior to its closing, a litany of civil rights violations had been logged ranging from residents being denied medical care to violent attacks.

It was the stuff of nightmares, but for me, growing up in the 60s, it was more real than for most because I knew and loved a family—a good family—who had placed a child within those walls at the tender age of seven. What’s more, I hadn’t known the child existed until I overheard an adult conversation between my parents and my godparents. The existence of this child, my godparents’ fourth —their secret—was a confounding thing. I had so many questions; how is it possible to erase a child? Did they miss her, did they love her? And what about the siblings—how did they fare carrying this burden? Just how does a decision like this get made and what is the collateral damage for a family over time? And perhaps most importantly, whose fault is it when a child is banished? 

The Precious Jules was inspired by a lifetime of mulling over these very questions.  The fictional Beechwood Institute in my latest novel is modeled on the now closed Rosewood Center. The Jules family, a family of some means, looks to all the world like a happy family with a beautiful home, successful grown children and the admiration of friends and neighbors. But each of the children carries the trauma of Ella’s banishment into their adulthood. The bulk of the burden, however, falls to the mother and begs the questions—was placing Ella in Beechwood an act of selfishness, or an act of love? Just how does a decision like this get made and what is the collateral damage for a family over time?

These are the questions I explore in The Precious Jules, a novel that examines the thin line between selfishness and what passes for love. This is my reimagining of a past that might explain how a loving family can find themselves backed into a dark corner and forced to make unimaginably painful decisions with lifelong repercussions. This family story asks what is best for one child in light of what is perceived as the greater good and just what is the collective legacy of buried family secrets, shame, and helplessness? 

The fictional Beechwood, like the infamous Rosewood Center, was closed amidst controversy and scandal in 2009. Abuses, neglect, and overcrowding had been documented for years. But preparing to close the Center was a complicated process that left nearly three-thousand residents, their families and the state of Maryland frantic to find suitable living conditions for those who had spent a lifetime within those walls. 

The Jules family, like so many other families in real life, has spent decades trying to reconcile their decision to place Ella. But now Ella’s mother, Hillary Jules, having never really come to terms with the decision to send Ella away or her own role in the disaster precipitating her placement, is set on bringing her daughter home, much to the surprise of the rest of her family. The five Jules siblings, having grown up being told that placing Ella was for the good of the family, are converging on the family home, arriving from the far corners of the country to talk some sense into their aging parents and get to the root of this inexplicable change of heart. 

Lynetta, an aide at the Beechwood Institute, has been by Ella’s side for decades. She is dedicated to Ella and has seen her through trauma the Jules family has no knowledge of. Now Lynetta must fight the powerful Jules family for guardianship of the adult Ella she has grown so fond of.

Both women love Ella, but who is the best choice for her guardian and what secrets are they hiding from one another—maybe even from themselves?

Inspired by the circumstances of so many families dependent on a misguided mental health care system incapable of rising to the challenges, The Precious Jules is a story that examines both the nuanced love and the collateral damage of making difficult decisions in the face of limited options and struggling to find atonement.

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About Shawn Nocher
Shawn Nocher (pronounced No-Shay) is a mentee of Michael Glaser, Elise Levine, William Black, and Richard Bausch. Shawn Nocher’s writing has appeared in Newsweek, Electric Literature, Writer’s Digest, SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, and Glimmer Train. She graduated with an MA in writing from Johns Hopkins and is currently teaching in their graduate program. A Hand To Hold In Deep Water, her debut novel published in 2021, and her second novel, The Precious Jules, will be published by Blackstone in June 2022.

Connect with Shawn ~ Website: shawnnocher.com ♦ Instagram: @shawnnocher ♦ Twitter: @shawn_nocher

THE PRECIOUS JULES

“Beautifully written…a great book club pick!” — Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author

A deeply felt family narrative that examines the fine line between selfishness and what passes for love.

After nearly two hundred years of housing retardants, as they were once known, the Beechwood Institute is closing the doors on its dark history, and the complicated task of reassigning residents has begun. Ella Jules, having arrived at Beechwood at the tender age of eight, must now rely on the state to decide her future. Ella’s aging parents have requested that she be returned to her childhood home, much to the distress of Ella’s siblings, but more so to Lynetta, her beloved caretaker who has been by her side for decades. The five adult Jules children, haunted by their early memories of their sister, and each dealing with the trauma of her banishment in their own flawed way, are converging on the family home, arriving from the far corners of the country―secrets in tow―to talk some sense into their aging parents and get to the root of this inexplicable change of heart.

The Precious Jules examines the thin line between selfishness and what passes for love. This family story asks what is best for one child in light of what is perceived as the greater good, and just what is the collective legacy of buried family secrets, shame, and helplessness. The Precious Jules is a deeply felt family narrative that will make you fall in love with these flawed and imperfect characters standing on the threshold of an awakening they never expected.

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Category: On Writing