Man in the Blue Moon (35 page)

What inspired you to write
Man in the Blue Moon
?

During my early years, I lived next door to my maternal grandparents. I spent a lot of my childhood in their home. Every evening my grandmother’s widowed sister would join us for supper. While the meal simmered on the stove, the two sisters would sit at the table and talk about local news that never seemed to make the newspaper. Most of the time I’d sit in the hallway, eavesdropping on their tales about the townspeople I knew and picturing the scenes I heard as a movie in my mind.

My grandfather was also a “talker,” and whenever he’d enter the room, he’d share in the conversation, disputing some of the women’s stories and adding details to others. He was the best storyteller I have known.

One story from my grandfather’s childhood has long fascinated and haunted me. In 1920, when my grandfather was ten, he and his older brother were sent to pick up a delivery that was arriving from Bainbridge, Georgia, by steamboat down the Apalachicola River to their home in Florida. Since their father owned a mercantile in a crossroads community, such a request was not unusual. The boys were always being sent to Apalachicola, the county seat, for deliveries.

After the dockworkers had loaded a crudely constructed box onto their wagon, my grandfather and his brother traveled back home guessing what was inside. My grandfather bet his brother that it was a grandfather clock.

Back at the family store with the box now unloaded from the wagon, my great-grandfather used a crowbar to pop the lid open. As a boy, my grandfather was so scared at the sight he saw that he stumbled and fell backward, tearing the seat in his britches. A man, soiled with filth and caked with mud, climbed out of the box.

The man who had been nailed shut inside was shipped during the night to his cousin, my great-grandfather, for safekeeping. The man was on the run for supposedly killing his wife. Even though the court had exonerated him, the wife’s family sought vengeance. They had made it known that they would hunt him down and kill him.

My grandfather and his brothers were instructed not to ask any questions, and if they were asked by the people in the village, they were told to simply say that the visitor was a worker their father had hired. After about four months, my grandfather awoke one morning and the man was gone. They never heard from him again.

Man in the Blue Moon
has been more than just another novel—writing this story has been a calling, a way to give back to my grandfather the story that he first presented to me. After months of research, I began writing the first draft of the novel on his ninety-ninth birthday. When I would visit with him, he would ask about “the box story.” Then he would lean over and caution me that I must never reveal the name of the man who was originally shipped to his house when he was a boy. “I promised my daddy I wouldn’t talk about it,” he’d say in a stage whisper.

Brother Mabry is a fascinating character—sort of a cross between P. T. Barnum and Billy Sunday. What inspired his character? How does he compare to Reverend Simpson in your mind?

I’ve often heard writers say that some of their characters appear out of nowhere—that right when they are focused on some aspect of the story, these unplanned characters appear in their minds. Up until this novel, I had never experienced anything like that. Before I write the first sentence of a novel, I like to develop detailed character sketches, so while the story might go in a different direction than planned, the characters typically remain the same. But Brother Mabry threw me for a loop. He literally walked into the story and held court.

Brother Mabry’s appearance helps to further the conflict in the story. He is in direct contrast to Reverend Simpson, who at first tries to ignore the public outrage over Lanier’s ability to heal. However, as time goes on Reverend Simpson realizes that he can no longer sit by and watch the town persecute Lanier. I think because of Brother Mabry’s arrival and the hysteria that he ignites, Reverend Simpson comes into his own and becomes more courageous. While Reverend Simpson is perhaps more authentic in his beliefs, from a writing perspective Brother Mabry was the most fun to write!

The setting is an integral part of the story, often echoing the themes and arcs of the different characters’ stories. Why did you choose this part of Florida?

As a fifth-generation Floridian, this is the area I know best. All of my grandfather’s stories revolved around West Florida, where he grew up. He lived to be 101, and during his growing-up days, Florida was still a rough, untamed world. When he was a boy, my grandfather once witnessed a man walk into his father’s country store and shoot another man in the back of the head. The man who fired the shot claimed that the other man had stolen his cattle. When the charge was proven true, the crime was deemed justifiable homicide.

As I began to research for
Man in the Blue Moon
, I was struck by the complicated details of the area where my grandfather was reared. It was a part of Florida that had known excessive wealth before the Civil War when the port of Apalachicola was the third-largest exporter of cotton on the Gulf of Mexico—the French government even had a consulate there. Apalachicola now has around 2,500 citizens. The town is still a beautiful place with a large number of homes and buildings on the historical register. Whenever I start a new novel, I go there for inspiration. It’s one of my favorite places and seems to find its way into almost every story I write.

One thing reviewers consistently comment on is the authenticity of the voices of your characters. Is that something you’re constantly studying and perfecting, or is it something that comes naturally?

Like all writers, I am always listening and observing. Sometimes when I am sitting at a restaurant or waiting in line at an airport terminal, I’ll hear someone say something in a unique way and I’ll jot it down. I have lots of paper napkins and torn pieces of paper tucked inside a shoe box. Then, when I start a new story, I’ll scatter the sayings out on the floor and go through them, pulling out good ones to use for dialogue.

Do you see
Man in the Blue Moon
as similar to your previous novels, or does it mark a departure in your writing? How so?

Even though my previous novels are not historical, some of the themes are the same, such as the close ties of community in a small town and the Southerners’ love affair with the land. My work tends to focus on characters who are facing “life hurricanes” and how they come out the other side. At the end of the day, I just want to write a novel that is one I’d like to read.

What’s next for you?

I’m looking forward to the release of my next novel,
The King of Florabama
, which is about the longest-serving sheriff in Alabama, who must confront the circumstances behind a forty-year-old murder that has splintered his relationships with his children. And like the other novels, Florida plays a part in the story.

1. Ella’s boys all have different reactions to Lanier, both when he first arrives and throughout the story. Discuss the differences in their personalities and responses. Why do you think each boy reacts as he does?
   
2. Ella often idealizes her aunt Katherine yet admits she was “a broken woman . . . who’d prefer to dream life away rather than walk through the pains of the present.” What does that say about Ella? Would you characterize Ella as a weak or strong woman? Why? Do you think that changes over the course of the novel?
   
3. Why is Ella so determined to keep her land? Do you agree with her decision to fight for the land, or do you think she was foolish not to sell at least part of it? Why? How does the fact that she has three boys to feed impact your answer?
   
4. Lanier has a gift he often wishes he hadn’t been given. Have you ever felt that way about a gift or talent? How did you decide to handle that gift?
   
5. After they cut down the last pine, Ella finds she can’t embrace the joy everyone else feels. “Somehow it was easier to stay in the shade of doubt rather than give way to the momentary light of wishful thinking,” she muses. Have you ever felt this way? How did you overcome those feelings?
   
6. What is revealed about Clive Gillespie’s background? How does that play into his actions? How much do you think our past shapes who we become later in life?
   
7. Narsissa holds on to a belief about her husband for a good portion of the story, but she later admits she was only fooling herself. Why does it take her so long to realize this, or at least to admit it? In what ways is Narsissa like Ella? In what ways is she different?
   
8. Did Reverend Simpson’s speech in chapter 21 surprise you? Why or why not? Did it change your opinion of him? How would you have handled the situation?
   
9. Both Ella’s land and the larger area of Apalachicola are an integral part of the story. Discuss how the land reflects the journey of the main characters and almost becomes a character itself.
   
10. The people of Dead Lakes are easily swayed by public opinion and quickly skeptical of anyone who is different. Give some examples. Why are they quick to judge Lanier though they easily accept Brother Mabry’s rather outrageous claims? How can we balance belief with healthy skepticism? Where do you draw the line between faith and discernment?
    
11. In chapter 20, Brother Mabry says, “The healing powers of the water on that land have no ownership other than that of God,” and he later proclaims, “Hear me now. . . . If we have enough faith, we can pray down this flu.” Discuss the irony of his statements in light of other events in the book. Would you characterize Brother Mabry as crooked or merely misguided? Do you think he is well-intentioned? Why or why not?
    
12. Discuss the symbolism of Brother Mabry’s act when he last appears in chapter 25.
    
13. When influenza sweeps through Dead Lakes but spares the two children Lanier had already healed, Mr. Pomeroy suggests the town is being punished for the way they treated Lanier. What does that say about how he views God? What is the danger with that line of thinking?
    
14. Which character or event in the book surprised you the most? Which did you find the most tragic? Triumphant?