Palmetto Moon
by Kim Boykin
Publisher: Berkely Trade
Pages: 320
Genre: Southern Women’s Fiction
Format: Paperback/Kindle
by Kim Boykin
Publisher: Berkely Trade
Pages: 320
Genre: Southern Women’s Fiction
Format: Paperback/Kindle
Purchase at: AMAZON Barnes
& Noble IndieBound
June, 1947.
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Book Excerpt:
“Murrah?” Rosa Lee’s eyes go
wide and she shakes her head at me like I’ve forgotten the rules, but I
haven’t. Since before I was born, my parents forbade the servants to speak
their native tongue in our house. Offenders were given one warning; a second
offense brought immediate dismissal. I say the Gullah word again, drawing it
out softly. “Why are you crying?” The hands that helped bring me into the world
motion for me to lower my voice.
Rosa Lee’s
husband, Desmond, told me my first word was murrah. It was what I called Rosa
Lee, until Mother made me call her by name. “My own murrah.” The forbidden
words bring more tears. I press my face into the soft curve of her neck and
breathe in the Ivory soap Mother insists all the servants use, mingled with
Rosa Lee’s own scent—vanilla and lemongrass.
She holds me
at arm’s length, trembling, and I know I’ve done it again.
“You got to
tell them,” she pleads. “Make them see you can’t go through with this.”
I point to the
door that leads to the elegant dining room where my parents are eating their
breakfast. “I have told them. Mother refuses to listen, and I’ve begged Father.
He says I have to do this.” She looks away. Her body rocks, sobbing violently
on the inside. “Rosa Lee, please don’t cry. I can’t bear it.” She shakes her
head and swipes at the tears that stain the sleeve of her freshly pressed
uniform. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”
“When you’re
asleep, your heart takes over. You got no control, and it’s gonna kill you.”
She’s right.
Since I graduated and moved home from college two weeks ago, I’ve been
sleepwalking like I did when I was a child, but these outings don’t land me
snuggled up in the servant’s quarters, between Desmond and Rosa Lee. Most of
the time, I wake up and return to bed without incident, but last week Desmond
found me trying to leave the house. He said I was babbling about sleeping in
the bay, which might not have been so disturbing if I hadn’t been wearing five
layers of heavy clothing. I knew what he thought I was trying to do to myself
and told him not to worry.
Since then,
Rosa Lee has insisted on sleeping on the stiff brocade chaise in my bedroom. Of
course, my parents don’t know she’s there or that she’s so afraid I’ll walk to
the bay or step off the balcony in my sleep, she’s tethered my ankle to the
bedpost with three yards of satin rope she begged from Mrs. O’Doul.
“Maybe it will
be different after the wedding.” I love her enough to lie to her. “Father says
I’m a Hadley and once it’s over with, I’ll fall in line the way I was born to.”
“But what if
Desmond hadn’t caught you?” She threads her fingers in mine and kisses the back
of my hand. A part of me wishes her intuition hadn’t sent Desmond to check on
me, that he hadn’t found me. “And what are you gonna do when we’re not there?”
“Don’t say
that.” My knees buckle, and I melt into a puddle at her feet. Justin has made
it clear he’s happy with his staff and has no plans to add “two ancient
servants.” But living under his roof and not having Rosa Lee and Desmond with
me is unthinkable, another high price of being the last Hadley descendant.
“You think
it’s not going to get worse after you’re married? Who do you think’s gonna be
there to save you? Mr. Justin?” She hisses the last word. “You think long and
hard before the sun comes up tomorrow, because I’m afraid down to my bones that
you won’t be alive to see it.”
She collects
herself and heads into the dining room to check on my parents. They won’t look
into her beautiful brown face and see she’s been crying any more than they see
this wedding is killing me, or at least the idea of being yoked to Justin
McLeod is. Not because he’s eight years older than me and, other than our
station in life, we have nothing in common, and not because of his good
qualities, although no one can find more than two: He is a heart-stoppingly
beautiful man and the sole heir of the largest fortune in Charleston
For over a
hundred years, Justin’s family and mine have built ships. And while two world
wars made us rich, a prolonged peace threatens to weaken our family fortunes
considerably. Somewhere in all that, my father convinced Justin a Hadley-McLeod
union would position them to take over the world, at least the shipping world.
And Father is certain nothing short of a blood union will keep Justin in the
partnership.
Rosa Lee
pushes through the swinging door and pours the coffee down the drain, her
signal that breakfast is over and my parents are no longer close by. I smile,
trying to reassure her I’m okay, that I’m going to be okay. She shakes her head
and starts to wash one of the breakfast plates in slow motion, barely
breathing. I hate those things, and after tomorrow, I’ll own twenty-four place
settings of them, part of my dowry. I don’t give a damn about thousand-dollar
plates, but I do care for Rosa Lee.
“I can do
this.” I say from behind her. My voice sounds sure, steady. “I will do this.”
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Let's Learn a Little about author Kim Boykin:
What is your writing environment?
I work in my office, which is usually very messy. It’s beside the foyer and overlooks the woods, which is good and bad because I have 3 dogs that I let in and out what seems like every five seconds.
I work in my office, which is usually very messy. It’s beside the foyer and overlooks the woods, which is good and bad because I have 3 dogs that I let in and out what seems like every five seconds.
Who is your perfect hero and why?
I don’t have a particular hero, but I adore Kristin Higgins’ and Jill Shalvis’ heroes. They’re smart and funny and very alpha. Of course I love them with the heroine, but I love the way they interact with each other, it’s very authentic.
What authors have caught your interest lately and why?
While I do write women’s fiction for Penguin, I’m fairly new at writing contemporary romance (for the Tule Publishing Group.) So, I’ve been reading a ton of contemporary romance. At first I read them to study the genre, now I’m hooked. My favorite authors are Kristan Higgins and Jill Shalvis. I like their books because they’re smart, funny and romantic.
What type have you always wanted to write and why?
Publishers like to put you in a box. I’m in the sweet Southern box. What I really want to be is a storyteller who tells the sweet funny stories and the ones with the dark Southern gothic streak. I’m still in that sweet box, but I’m hoping as my audience grows, I can’t publish those delicious dark stories I have piled up in my office.
What are 3 things on your bucket list?
Write a screenplay.
Spend a summer traveling out west, hitting the biggies, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone and all the natural wonders in between.
Live on the Isle of Palms. We visit there a lot, and I never want to leave.
How did you get the idea for this particular novel?
I’m a pantser, so I hear the protagonist’s voice in my head and tell that story. They tell me the year, the location, pretty much everything. But there is a postcard in the story that’s very important toward the end of the story. My grandfather collected postcards. I always thought it was neat that just a few lines on a small card could say so much or mean so much.
What is you favorite scene in Palmetto Moon?
I love the scene where Vada takes Frank to church. He doesn’t want to go because he hasn’t set foot in the only church in their town since he was fifteen and the town found out that the preacher’s wife had seduced him. The preacher stayed in the town just to remind Frank he’s going to hell for what he did. The scene is hilarious, and poor Frank loves Vada so much, he sits there while this horrible man preaches at him. Of course Vada doesn’t have a clue as to what’s happening.
What are you working on now and when can we expect it?
My new book is called A Peach of a Pair and should be out summer of 2015. It’s the story of a young woman who receives a wedding invitation to her baby sister's shotgun wedding back home only to discover her fiancé is the groom. When she takes a job with two spinster sisters to escape her life, she ends up on a life journey with the women, learning the true meaning of sisterhood and forgiveness.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
My elderly parents live near me and I help out with them. For fun, I read and spend a lot of time on the, Isle of Palms so anything beachy. Walking, riding bikes, vegging on the beach, exploring Charleston.
What would you consider the perfect date?
I wrote a scene about that in one of my contemporary romance novellas. A small tent pitched on the beach with candles, a café table and two chairs, and a picnic basket from one of my favorite restaurants in Charleston, Cru, who makes to-die-for comfort food. Stay until the tide rolls in. When we leave, someone, maybe brawny fairies come and take our makeshift outdoor dining room away.
What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know?
I’m extremely ADHD While it drove my parents and teachers nuts when I was a kid, it actually helps me as a writer. I can multi-task like crazy, which you have to do when you are writing a new book and marketing your others. I can stay laser focused on my writing even when all three dogs have to be let out ninety-five times a day. All in all it’s a good thing.
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About the Author:
Kim Boykin was raised in her South Carolina Crazy
Town
Almost everything she learned about
writing, she learned from her grandpa, an oral storyteller, who was a master
teacher of pacing and sensory detail. He held court under an old mimosa tree on
the family farm, and people used to come from all around to hear him tell
stories about growing up in rural Georgia
As a stay-at-home mom, Kim started
writing, grabbing snip-its of time in the car rider line or on the bleachers at
swim practice. After her kids left the nest, she started submitting her work,
sold her first novel at 53, and has been writing like crazy ever since.
Thanks to the lessons she learned under
that mimosa tree, her books are well reviewed and, according to RT Book
Reviews, feel like they’re being told across a kitchen table. She is the author
of The Wisdom of Hair from Berkley Carolina Berkley 8/5/14 . While her
heart is always in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, she lives in Charlotte
For More Information:
- Visit Kim Boykin’s website.
- Connect with Kim on Facebook
and Twitter.
- Visit Kim’s blog.
- More books by Kim Boykin.
- Contact Kim.
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