by Karen White
Fall had already bleached the colors from the summer blooms, and as I prepared the gardens for winter, I felt closest to my grandmother, understanding more than ever the cycle of the garden: the barren earth that sleeps during the cold months and then erupts with life in the spring. I understand it now. Finally, I understand.
I waited at the fence as Lucy moved through the paces, listening to the instructions from the judge as she transitioned from walk to trot, then changed directions at the judge’s cues. When she was done, Lucy guided Jane to the middle of the ring with the other riders and turned so the judges could read the numbers on their backs. I watched as her eyes scanned the crowd, searching until they settled on me. She seemed to relax and her smile broadened as she realized I was watching. I stood without moving, cherishing the moment, and remembering the woman who’d come to my first shows and braided my hair with gentle hands.
When the judge announced the results, Lucy winked at me before turning her horse toward the gate to exit the ring and accept her ribbon, gracious in her nods to her fellow competitors as she moved forward. I hadn’t taught her that, or how to hold her head with grace, and I smiled to myself, feeling Lillian near.
Full darkness had already fallen when we returned to Asphodel. Sara rode with Helen and George, but Lucy slept on my shoulder between Tucker and me in the truck pulling the horse trailer, her three blue ribbons pinned to the jacket she’d refused to remove. The moon rose high in the sky, full and round with possibilities, outlining the branches of the old oaks and their sleeves of Spanish moss, transforming them into welcoming arms.
I rolled down my window, the puffs of my breath visible in the moon’s glow. The trees were heavy with new leaves, the limbs no longer hovering over the drive but now waving gracefully as they bent gently to the earth, their season of grieving over. Even the wind as it made its endless circle through the branches had changed its sound, the whistling now a hum of voices, a new lullaby to remember years from now.
Over Lucy’s head I leaned onto Tucker’s shoulder and smiled up at him, feeling the rush of blood to my heart and head. Like a dormant garden I had found my way back from the fallow ground, my life the fertile soil in which hope can now flourish and possibilities bloom. I lifted my hand toward the moon, cupping it in my palm like a secret, then opened my fingers one by one until it slipped out of sight.
Karen White is the author of nine previous books. She lives with her family near Atlanta, Georgia. Visit her Web site at www.karen-white.com.
CONVERSATION GUIDE
A CONVERSATION WITH
KAREN WHITE
Q. Family secrets and hidden legacies are always intriguing. Do you enjoy these kinds of mysteries?
A. Definitely! I’m also a huge history buff, so combining real historical events with a family’s legacy makes it more relevant, I think. It’s fascinating to find a connection with our collective past—even if it’s something as simple as matters of the heart.
Q. This book touches on many serious issues, including civil rights and, in particular, miscegenation. Has this always been an area of interest for you?
A. I’m always amazed how much I learn when I begin researching a particular historical period. I studied racial issues in school, but it wasn’t until researching The Lost Hours that I realized how pertinent the struggle for civil rights would have to be in the parts of the book that were set in a segregated South in the 1930s. The characters lived in that time period, and I decided it would be a lot more interesting to immerse them in the middle of all the social unrest and see what happened.
Q. Piper’s character was once an accomplished equestrian and an Olympic hopeful. Do you ride?
A. I was a casual rider as a teenager. However, my daughter is an avid rider and has been riding for the last eight years and would like to continue when she goes to college in a couple of years. We are literally surrounded by horse farms where we live, so I didn’t need to go very far to research the equestrian aspects of the book.
I was also lucky enough to have a friend, Andrea Winkle, who owns several horses and rides daily. She was so very generous with her time and knowledge to help me with writing the “horsey parts” that I named the stable manager in the book after her.
Q. In this book you change points of view frequently, alternating between first and third person. What was your reasoning for this? Did you find it difficult to do?
A. I originally started writing the book all told in first person from Piper’s point of view. But by the time I reached somewhere around chapter five, I realized how I needed to be inside of not only Lillian’s head but also Helen’s to give the reader more insight to the inner conflicts of all three women. I kept Piper’s story in first person to let the reader know that although all three women are major players in the story, Piper is the primary protagonist.
The most difficult part of this was telling Helen’s point of view. Because she’s blind, being in her head yet describing what she’s “seeing” or hearing was a huge challenge, but ultimately, very gratifying. I think Helen’s a very strong character and definitely one of my favorites.
Q. Female relationships are often a focal point of your novels, and this book not only deals with the complexities of friendships between women but the sometimes intricate and difficult relationships between grandmothers and granddaughters.What inspired you to write about this kind of relationship?
A. Real life. Nothing about the story is autobiographical, but I did borrow from my own relationships with my mother and grandmother. I was close to my maternal grandmother because I’m so much like her. I think this put me at odds with my own mother, because she and I are very different.
I also have a sixteen-year-old daughter, and when I’m not being vexed by her attitude, I’m enjoying studying the complex relationship that exists between mothers and daughters that seems impervious to whatever time period one is raised in.
Q. Asphodel Meadows seems like a lovely place. Is it based on a real place?
A. It is, actually. Finding the house to fashion the fictional Asphodel Meadows after was one of those serendipitous discoveries during research. I was looking for a Savannah River rice plantation and discovered Hermitage Plantation. The plantation was known for producing the famous “Savannah gray brick,” which was used to build many of the homes in Savannah. Piper’s house in Monterey Square is actually made with Savannah gray bricks.
The house wasn’t built in the traditional Greek Revival form of architecture, popular in its day, but instead was built in the English Regency style. It was well known for its beauty and its exquisite gardens, as well as its hospitality. Unfortunately, the house no longer exists today except in history books and memories.
Q. You have explored Alzheimer’s and the difficulties of aging in this book. What drew you to write about this? What kind of research did you have to do?
A. My beloved grandmother is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s. She’s physically very healthy, but she’s been in nursing care for about ten years now. I saw her for the first time since she’s been in the nursing home right before I started writing The Lost Hours. Seeing her was difficult because what I saw was the shell of the vibrant and colorful grandmother I loved. And I mourned all the stories from her past that she could no longer tell me.
My great-aunt also died from Alzheimer’s, so the disease has been in the forefront of my family’s history for years now. Unfortunately, I didn’t have to go very far to research this disease that I refer to as “the great thief.”
Q. If there was only one thing you would like your readers to take away from this book, what would it be?
A. To connect with the older generations. They have such stories to share with us! They are a part of our history and a treasure trove of not only what life was like before we came along, but also of our own personal journeys.
CONVERSATION GUIDE
QUESTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION
1. What does Helen’s blindness symbolize in the
book? Would she play the same role if she weren’t blind?
2. Why does Lillian keep all the blinds and draperies closed at Asphodel?
3. What does the garden mean to Lillian? To Annabelle? To Piper?
4. If Piper had told the truth about who she was when she first arrived at Asphodel, what would Lillian’s reaction have been?
5. Why do Piper and Helen form such a quick bond?
6. Annabelle tells Piper that history books are filled with men’s stories of battles won and lost, but that women tell the stories of people’s hearts. Do you agree?
7. What do the “old gentlemen” (the alley of oak trees) symbolize?
8. Why did Annabelle never talk about her past to Piper? What was she trying to tell Piper when she left Piper the gold angel charm?
9. Lillian claims that she doesn’t believe in regret. Why? Do you agree with her reasoning?
10. In the beginning of the book, Piper is despondent, unmotivated, and essentially lonely. How does she change by the end of the book? What elements of her character were there all along and only rediscovered?
11. Lillian’s secret, when it’s revealed, is devastating to Piper and Helen, but they ultimately forgive her. Were Lillian’s actions justified? Would Annabelle have forgiven her?
