Introduction

From the author of The Middle Sister comes a heartwarming tale of second chances and the unparalleled love between mothers and daughters.

When fifteen-year-old Olivia Jean finds herself in the “family way,” her mother, Daisy, who has never been very maternal, springs into action. Daisy decides that Olivia Jean can’t stay in New York and whisks her away to her grandmother’s farm in Alabama to have the baby–even though Daisy and her mother, Birdie, have been estranged for years. When they arrive, Birdie lays down the law: Sure, her granddaughter can stay, but Daisy will have to stay as well. Though Daisy is furious, she has no choice.

Now, under one little roof in the 1960s Deep South, three generations of spirited, proud women are forced to live together. One by one, they begin to lose their inhibitions and share their secrets. And as long-guarded truths emerge, a baby is born–a child with the power to turn these virtual strangers into a real, honest-to-goodness family.

Praise for Going Down South:

“Long live Olivia Jean, Daisy, and Birdie! These three daughters, mothers, and women are smart, feisty, and funny. Their stories will break your heart in the very best way. I absolutely loved Going Down South!”
—Carleen Brice, author of Orange Mint and Honey

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

GOING DOWN SOUTH


Part I
Olivia Jean



Her father, Turk, went down first, holding his work boots by the strings
with his overnight kit tucked under one arm. He walked on his toes, taking the
seventh step down with a side maneuver because he knew it creaked. He had
learned his lesson the hard way from her mother, Daisy, waiting at the top of
the stairs one night about five years ago. His foot strayed and pressed ahead
when he should have gone to the left or the right. He might have made it past
her if it hadn't been for that step. She had dozed off and there are ways to get
around Daisy when she's asleep. But he was in no state to remember all of the
things he should have remembered. And besides, Daisy was sitting with her legs
flung across the top of the landing just so she could catch him. Clutched in
her right hand was a broom, leaning forward at a cockeyed slant, straw bottom
down and ready to do damage.
That night in March, Olivia Jean had just passed her tenth birthday and
should have been asleep, when he touched lucky stair number seven and it whined
loud enough to wake her mother. Daisy grunted, choking in a snore and was on
her feet lightning quick without even rubbing her eyes or wiping the thin line
of drool at the corner of her mouth. She gripped the broom in both hands,
turned it upside down and swung at Turk's copper-skinned head. He leaned away in
time but she started at him again. Her robe fell open and Olivia Jean saw long,
thick legs under a nightgown that stopped near her coochie, and then one of her
titties fell out as she lifted her arm and aimed again. Olivia Jean was crouched
at the keyhole of her bedroom door, jaws wide, the scene surprising her so much
that she banged her head against the doorknob as she tried to get a better view.
Daisy kept swinging as if she was trying to get at a spider in the corner
or a big, fat cockroach that always appeared out of nowhere when company came to
visit. There was rage in her swinging, rage reserved for bugs, bad impressions
and drunken husbands. Then her other titty bounced free. And Turk fell back,
clutching the railing. Seemed as though he was as surprised as Olivia Jean was.
In all her days Olivia Jean had never seen Daisy's girl parts, and seeing them
then, when her mother was in the middle of trying to kill her daddy, was enough
to freeze Olivia Jean right where she was -- on her knees, peeking into the
dimmed hallway when she should have been curled asleep with her Raggedy Ann
tucked under her arm.
That's when Olivia Jean took a deep breath, stood up, opened the door and
ran out of her bedroom. Turk wasn't grabbing the broom or telling Daisy to stop
or trying to move away or anything. He had leaned back, dropped his arms, and
let Daisy continue to hit him with the broom across his shoulders, moving him
backwards as if she was going to push him down the stairs. Olivia Jean knew
someone was going to call the police if they didn't stop. At four in the
morning people should be in bed, going to bed or at least thinking about going
to bed, not on a rampage like Daisy was, beating Turk with the straw end of a
broom while she danced around the hallway half naked.
... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. What was your inspiration to write this book?
2. GOING DOWN SOUTH deals with some weighty themes, including sexism, gender preferences, skin color, abortion, rape. What would you say is the overall theme in GDS and why?
3. Who is your favorite character in GDS and why?
4. What do you hope your readers will come away with after they read GDS?
5. Tell us about why skin color played a rather prominent role in GDS but not so much in The Middle Sister?
6. The love scenes between Birdie and Lupe were more funny than torrid. Why?
7. Did you have trouble envisioning a household with three women since you don't have any sisters or daughters?
8. Food seems to play an important role in both TMS and GDS. Why is this the case?
9. What was the hardest part about writing this book? Who was the hardest character to capture and put down on paper? Why?
10. Your two books are substantially different in setting and even characters but they both seem to celebrate families with strong matriarchs at the head of households that males have essentially deserted. Why is this the case and will this ring true in your next book also?

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