This month, I’m interviewing Carolyn Curry, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction, a non-profit founder and director of Women Alone Together, and holds a PhD in history. Her doctoral studies in history helped to inspire her fascinating new novel, TRUDY’S AWAKENING, based on the life of Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, to be released on September 2nd.
Marie: Thanks for making the time to talk with me today, Carolyn. Tell me, when did you first learn about Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, known as Trudy in your new novel, and why did you find her so intriguing?
Carolyn: Believe it or not, I was in graduate school way back in the 1980s, working on my
PHD in history. There was so little about women in the history books back then. I was
always asking, “Where are the women?” They were left out.
I wanted to help remedy that absence. I went to my advisor, Dr. John Matthews,
and told him I wanted to write a biography of a 19th century woman, preferably a Georgia
woman. I would have to find someone who had left primary sources, such as letters, or
diaries. Since women were private, there would be very little in secondary sources.
Then I hit the jackpot! He told me about a woman – Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas -
who had kept a journal for forty-one years. But I would have to go to the Perkins Library
at Duke University to examine it. It had never been printed. I did just that and was able
to purchase a typed transcript of the diaries. They contained 450,000 words.
I knew whoever I chose to study had to be someone who would hold my interest for
several years. Gertrude was such a good writer. She was intelligent and asked
questions about everything. From the first time I saw her journal, until this day I have
been intrigued by this complex woman. She experienced horrific losses in her life but
was able to come back and thrive repeatedly. She had that toughness and resilience,
sometimes called gumption in the South.
I have written articles about her, made speeches about her, chose her as my
dissertation topic and then published it as a book. Suffer and Grow Strong: The Life of
Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas 1834 -1907 was the first and only biography about her.
Now she is a character in this historical novel. For over forty years, she has had an
impact on my life. I imagine I will always be fascinated by her.
Marie: What made you revisit her story in a fictional format?
Carolyn: My first book about Gertrude has hundreds of footnotes and a huge bibliography. I
knew my granddaughters, who were in middle school at the time, would not want to
read it. I was encouraged to write her story as a young adult novel. I even gave that a
shot and started writing. But I realized that was not what I wanted to do and stopped. In
the interim, I wrote a novel – of all things – a murder/mystery, SUDDEN DEATH, set in the
world of football. It was Covid and we all did strange things during the Covid shutdown.
But I really enjoyed writing fiction. A friend suggested that I should write a historical
novel and have Gertrude be a character. That appealed to me and that is exactly what I
did. My granddaughters are in college now and I believe they will enjoy reading this
book. I dedicated it to them!
Marie: Tell us about your research process, what kind of source materials you used and
where you found them. Did you have to go back for another dip into research
when you were writing the novel?
Carolyn: Not only did I have forty-one years of diaries, I also had fifteen scrapbooks that
belonged to her great granddaughter, Gail Despeaux, who lived in Atlanta. They
contained newspaper articles that she wrote or were written about her. I visited Gail a
number of times along with other relatives who were still alive. The public records in the
Richmond County Courthouse in Augusta, Georgia, contained numerous legal records –
deeds, wills, inventories of belongings, slave lists, and records of court cases. In 2015, I even won the Award for Excellence in Research from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council. In that same year, my book was also selected as One of the Ten
Books All Georgians Should Read by the Center for the Book, as well as a Georgia
Author of the Year Award.
I was happy that I had told the story of an outstanding woman who had been forgotten, and I have been dedicated to that purpose to this day! I knew so much about Gertrude’s life that I did very little research for my new book. I know more about this woman than I know about my own family members! The fact that I now live on Peachtree Street in Atlanta and grew up in the little town of College Park, Georgia – two important locations in this novel – was also beneficial.
Marie: Tell us about your secondary characters – Amanda “Mae” and Lizzie Jeter.
Carolyn: Amanda “Mae” and Lizzie were real people who had some connection to Gertrude.
Amanda “Mae” was a young woman who appeared frequently in the journal, along with Trudy’s sisters and cousins. At first, I was confused - who is this girl? Then I realized she was a slave. She was a constant companion to Trudy. She probably slept in Trudy’s room. She took care of her clothes and cleaned her room. They had a bond, and I imagined what their relationship was. What happened to her after emancipation? Did they meet up again in life? How did Amanda survive?
The other character was a young artist, Lizzie Jeter, who painted Miss Trudy’s
portrait in 1899. I only knew tidbits about her from census figures and newspaper
articles in the Atlanta Constitution. From the census figures I learned that after her
father’s sudden death, she was the sole breadwinner for her mother, her sister and her
sister’s baby. And Lizzie was only twenty-six years old. I knew she had to be working
under a lot of stress and anxiety. I immediately knew there was a story here that I
wanted to tell. Did a relationship possibly develop between them while Lizzie was
painting? I Imagined that it did.
I am the proud owner of the portrait that Lizzie painted in 1899. It hangs in the entry
to my home, and I see it every day.
Marie: I love that! What an incredible connection to have with one of your characters! And there is so much here that readers will be connect with too. But tell me, what do you most hope modern readers will take away from your novel?
Carolyn: When they read this story, I hope modern readers will understand that when bad
things happen – and they always do – that there is a way to survive and even thrive.
Life is full of losses, and it is how we respond that makes all the difference. One big
part of that survival is the bond of love and friendship we have with one another.
TRUDY'S AWAKENING, will be released on September 2, 2025. Pre-order today!
To find out more about the book and Carolyn’s upcoming book tour, visit her website. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
When not curled up with a good book, Marie Bostwick can usually be found in her office, trying to write one.
A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty uplifting works of historical and contemporary fiction, Marie’s books are beloved by readers across the globe.
Drawing on her lifelong love of quilting and her unshakable belief in the power of sisterhood, Marie’s popular Cobbled Court Quilt series has been embraced by quilters and non-sewers alike. Her standalone books have also found a passionate following among lovers of women’s fiction. Marie’s novel, The Second Sister” was adapted into the 2018 Hallmark Hall of Fame feature film “Christmas Everlasting”, starring Patti LaBelle. Marie’s most recent novel, Hope on the Inside, was published in March 2019 and was chosen as a Reader’s Digest “Select Editions” book.
Marie’s novel, Hope on the Inside, was published in March 2019 and was chosen as a Reader’s Digest “Select Editions” book. Marie’s books have been published in fourteen different languages.
Her latest novel, “The Book Club for Troublesome Women”, was published on April 22nd, 2025 by Harper Muse, a fiction imprint of Harper Collins Focus.
Marie lives in Washington state with her husband and a beautiful but moderately spoiled Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
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