Authors Interviewing Characters: Cade Bentley

About WHERE THE WILD PEACHES GROW

Nona “Peaches” Davenport, abandoned by the man she loved and betrayed by family, left her Natchez, Mississippi, home fifteen years ago and never looked back. She’s forged a promising future in Chicago as a professor of African American Studies. Nona even finds her once-closed heart persuaded by a new love. But that’s all shaken when her father’s death forces her to return to everything she’s tried to forget.

Julia Curtis hasn’t forgiven her sister for deserting the family. Just like their mother, Nona walked away from Julia when she needed her most. And Julia doesn’t feel guilty for turning to Nona’s old flame, Marcus, for comfort. He helped Julia build a new life. She has a child, a career, and a determination to move on from old family wounds.

Upon Nona’s return to Natchez, a cautious reunion unfolds, and everything Nona and Julia thought they knew―about themselves, each other, and those they loved―will be tested. Unpacking the truth about why Nona left may finally heal their frayed bond―or tear it apart again, forever.

Cade Bentley Interviewing Opal Davenport

Cade:  People and things seem to move slower down here in Mississippi, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever done an interview sitting on a porch sipping on sweet tea.

Opal Davenport:  Ain’t no need doing things too quickly, you know? Life is like a pot of oxtails, you need to let it simmer slowly to get it right. 

Cade: What do you do to keep yourself busy?

Opal Davenport: When you get as old as I am, there isn’t much to do other than worry about your family. 

Cade:  What is it that you worry about?

Opal Davenport: I worry about how they’ll get along in life. You know, you try to lend them your wisdom. The kind that comes with age. You try to help them make the right choices, and when they don’t, well . . . you have to be ready to make those decisions for them. At least that’s what I believe. 

Cade: Do you have a big family?

Opal Davenport: I did. Had a husband and four boys—as of a week ago, I’ve outlived them all. Burying in the last one today. So I don’t have much family left now.

Cade: So sorry to hear that.

Opal Davenport:  Well that’s just life, ain’t it? I got my grandchildren now. And there’s two of them I’m extra concerned about, so I put all I got into them.

Cade: Who is that and why do you have more concern for them than you do for your other grandchildren?

Opal Davenport:  Now don’t get me wrong, I love all my grandchildren all the same, but those two, Nona and Julia, their father, Jasper was always getting into trouble. Gambling, womanizing. He ran his wife off. They didn’t have a stable upbringing. I had to step in and help my son raise his two girls. So, I’m a bit closer to them than my other grandchildren. They mean the world to me, but Nona is the one I worried about the most. 

Cade: Why is that?

Opal Davenport: She had so much sass and energy when she was younger, but now . . . well, she has become someone different since she left Natchez. I can’t say that she had a harder time of things. Julia’s had her share of problems, too. And Julia’s got a teenage boy to contend with—mind you, he’s a good boy, that’s not where her tribulations stem from. He brings joy to her life. But Nona? She doesn’t seem to find joy anywhere. Not her job. Not her man. She just goes through the motions. She’s so lost. Can’t find herself. Blaming others for her troubles.

Cade: I understand Nona left Natchez in a huff. She was angry. From what I understand, she was pretty upset with her family. Would that include you? And is that why she never returned? 

Opal Davenport: She’s here now. In Natchez. Back home. 

Cade: For her father’s funeral. Would she have come otherwise? Were you involved in her absence in any way?

Opal Davenport: Yes. I may have had something to do with that in that all those years, when I talked to her, I let her steep in her anger instead of coaxing her out of it. But it still don’t make any sense the way she keeps dwelling on what has happened. You know. I just want her to move past it.

Cade: Some people say the truth will set you free. Will that work for either Nona or Julia? Will the way you’ve helped them relieve them of what they are going through?

Opal Davenport: sometime secrets are best kept quiet. People may think in my old age I’m onery, but I’m not, what I am is honest. Two different things, although they end up with the same result–letting people know the truth. And when I do speak that is what I say. I tell it like is. The truth is the best medicine for whatever ails you. And yes. It will set your, soul, body and mind free.

Cade: Speaking your truth, what would you tell Nona and Julia?

Opal Davenport: Most people my age talk about the past more than anything else. That’s because we’ve lived our lives. But young people, like my granddaughters, shouldn’t dwell on what has happened, they need to look forward. To the future. They have time to make up for their mistakes, correct them, be happy. They shouldn’t let misunderstandings keep them apart. But they have. No need to worry about that though, cause Mamaw, that’s what they call me, gonna fix everything.

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About Cade Bentley:

Cade Bentley is a novelist and editor who is also published as Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Abby L. Vandiver, as well as Abby Colette. When she isn’t writing, Cade enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. She resides in South Euclid, Ohio. For more information visit www.authorabby.com.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing