Jessa is Back follows a young white girl returning home to Tennessee after spending time in Oregon in the 1950s who finds segregation unjust and advocates for a music education program in Black schools. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Music and Art were elements of public school education that my parents and my husband’s parents were involved in, and I was also exposed to the deplorable conditions in Black schools in the 1950’s, so it fell into line to frame an issue central to the book around the resistance of the white school board to providing even the “separate but equal” educational experience for the Black children of the town that they claimed to follow. I let Jessa promote equality in memory of her father, who had intended to pursue this, as a link to her formerly sheltered life and the strong person she becomes as the book progresses.

What were some ideas that were important for you to personify in your characters? 

My main character, Jessa, had to be stubborn to stand up to the society of her town.  I wanted the reader to get an impression of how very all-encompassing the grip of racism was on Jessa’s community, so I had to have some characters, such as the stuck-up neighbor and Charlie’s stepfather, to show this stance, but I also wanted to reveal that there were individuals in the town whose experience had led them to a different conclusion.  It was important that people could change their views, and Jessa’s agitation led to such changes.  The gains she promoted were carried forward by others in the community, and some of those people were able to form lasting friendships that bridged the racial divide.

What draws you to this period of time and makes it ripe for you to write such a great historical fiction story in it?  

Although the book is fiction, I recall the 1950’s vividly and the parallels with changes that are taking place in American society today are abundantly apparent.  Racism is again an accepted stance, as are paternalistic views of women’s roles in society.  Public education is under siege just as it was when “Christian Schools” were being set up to educate whites while avoiding integration.  My aim was to acquaint readers with the flawed reasoning that underlies discrimination, and the way in which segregation prevented individuals from having the experiences that would contradict the lies upon which discrimination is based.

I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?

I want to take up the story after a lapse of about 5-6 years, when the Civil Rights movement has had some impact on the South. I plan for Jessa and Janie to get back together and spend a summer in Radford.

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