The Hems of Their Skirts By Grace Sammon

The Hems of Their Skirts

By Grace Sammon

When it comes to novels, I love flawed characters. They endear themselves to us and enrage us all at the same time. You know who they are – those characters that can’t get out of their own way as they stumble through the plot. 

In my novel, The Eves, Jessica Barnet is broken – read this as majorly flawed. She has given up on herself, her looks, her career, and renovations to her Washington, DC townhome – but not her lies or her vodka. That is until her bossy friend, Sonia Cortez, tells her “Jessica, I saw you today, you refused to put your hand in the paint and leave your mark on the wall. I –am – too—tired—of—you, she hisses. “This hiding from the world stops today. You will write about the women we met.”

Enter a group of diverse, determined, and sometimes ditsy old women who, along with Sonia, help Jessica get out of her own way. Thank goodness for bossy friends and “other mothers” in novels and in life. Together we are better. Together we find our way. 

In May much of the world celebrates mothers.  It’s a good time to shine a light on the power of the women in our lives who take us under their wing and help us learn to fly. True sisterhood comes with three things – an absolute faith in the friendship, patience, and, as in the case of Jessica, Sonia, and “the oldies,” absolute honesty. Sonia knows all of Jessica’s secrets and is patient with her – until she is not. The old women see the error of their own ways.  They see Jessica for all she is, not for what she is not. They push Jessica beyond her comfort zone and into the delightfully uncharted waters of listening and learning from women whose stories can reach back hundreds of years and still touch today.

The Eves is a book within a book, with Jessica gathering the oral histories of the old women – women of color and colorful women. As Jessica writes, she begins to understand that when our stories are told, everything changes. But it is not only Jessica’s story that changes as she finds her footing and sets out on a new path of reinventing herself. Indeed, each of the characters in this Southern Maryland community develops and changes. What amazed me in the writing of The Eves is that my own story changed as well. Jessica, this flawed character and the magnificent (and to be honest, also flawed) characters taught me that I am not done. 

With The Eves, my fourth book, I thought I was ready to sail into retirement. But Jessica and “the oldies” had another idea. Almost three years later my life has blossomed in unexpected ways from becoming a radio host of two shows, to teaching a course on writing, to having three books on writing craft coming out this year. This is not hearsay, as Jan in The Eves would say. This is the truth. A surprising truth.

So, what changed, and what changes each of us? How do we go from “being done” to determining the mark we will leave on the world? The change comes from hard conversations, and fun ones, and from listening to each other and ourselves. In May as we honor mothers, we stand solidly on the shoulders of amazing women, some famous, some not. We stand because first we crawled and reached for the hems of our mothers’ skirts as they pulled us up to join them. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with family and friends – bossy and otherwise. We stand accountable for our strengths and our flaws – as they said back in the 1600s, “warts and all.” 

This is a month to recognize mothers and I will add the other women who shaped us to that honoring. It’s a time to celebrate those that helped us make our own history, just as we helped them make theirs.  In novels it’s easy to cheer on those flawed characters, or to yell at them in our heads hoping they can see the perfect path through the plot.  It’s not as easy to be accepting and supportive and patient with others, or ourselves.  That’s where the hard and honest conversations come in. As I look at what’s next for me, and as we celebrate the women in our own lives, I’m going to work on those things – acceptance, support, and patience – warts and all.  And, I’m going to continue to write.

Thanks Mom, and all those other mothers who saw in me what I didn’t see in myself.  Each of you ultimately led to the story of The Eves and all that comes after.

—

Grace Sammon is an author, radio host, entrepreneur, and educator. Recognized in “Who’s Who in Education” and “Who’s Who in Literature,” Grace utilized skills built up over decades to re-invent herself with her award-winning fourth book and debut novel – The Eves. She is the author of soon-to-be seven books, including a series on writing, publishing, and marketing your book; and, the host of two radio shows, The Storytellers and LAUNCH PAD. Always committed to creative collaborations,

Grace is the founder of Author Talk Network; a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers’ Association (WFWA) and the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA). She is the Director of Membership for one of the fastest-growing reader/writer online communities “Bookish Road Trip.” She currently lives on Florida’s west coast with her husband and a small herd of imaginary llamas. Find out more about Grace and her work at www.GraceSammon.Net

THE EVES

The Eves is a multi-generational novel portraying lives lived well and lives in transition. Filled with poignancy and humor, The Eves captures the conversations we wish we had had with our parents, if we had taken the opportunity, and the lessons we would want to impart to our children, if they were ready to listen.

Told through the voice of the psychologically complex Jessica Barnet, this is her story. As the primary witness in a messy trial she has been torn from the foundation of her existence—her connection to her children. With a partially finished doctoral degree, and incomplete renovations on her Washington, DC row house, she has let go of her ambitions and her appearance, but not her vodka or her sense of loss and guilt.

When Jessica meets five diverse, determined, and sometimes ditzy old women living in a sustainable community everything and everybody changes. Through plot twists and turns that cover three continents, we learn the truth of Jessica’s life and lies just as we fall in love with the vividly drawn characters and the vibrantly described settings.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing