Book Summary:
When twelve-year-old Leonard Bush loses his leg in a freak accident, he decides to give his leg a proper burial in the hilltop cemetery of his East Tennessee town. This event somehow sets off a chain of miraculous and catastrophic events—upending the lives of Leonard’s rigidly God-fearing mother, June; his deeply conflicted father, Emmett; and his best friend, Azalea, and her mother, Rose, who is also the town prostitute. While the local Baptist minister passes judgment on events and promises dire consequences, the people of this small community on the banks of Big Sugar move together toward awakening.
Donna Meredith: After Leonard’s leg is amputated, people in the community come to him and ask him to bury objects in his family’s cemetery. Each object symbolizes debilitating guilt and pain the character is carrying. What inspired you to write about guilt?
Susan Gilmore
Susan Gilmore: Great question! Probably, if I’m going to be honest, it comes from my own ability to inflict guilt on myself. For both big and little things. Some of that is probably rooted in my black-and-white, Southern Baptist upbringing. Not all. But some. Then, in my mid-twenties, I began to think about things differently. The turning point was a conversation I had with my mother-in-law. Martha was an amazing woman, the second woman ordained in the state of Texas. We were driving around Dallas when I asked her if she believed there was any unforgivable sin. She quickly responded, “No.” But if there was, “it would be not accepting God’s grace because then you are denying all that He or She is.” I realized then that guilt was my own construct. Not God’s. And it was the first step in the realization that obsessive guilt serves no good purpose. Leonard got that.
DM: After you wrote the book, the real Leonard Bush’s family reached out to you–Are you writing about my uncle? Seriously? That’s amazing! Had you researched the real Leonard Bush? Is the character in the book like the real person at all? How does he differ?
SG: That’s right. A woman messaged me through Facebook and explained that she is a distant relative of the real Leonard Bush. Since then, I’ve spoken with yet another relation, a gentleman who lives in Michigan. Both have been very friendly and helpful as I learn more about the real Leonard Bush. At the time of writing, however, I knew very little about him. Nor did I want to. I had an idea brewing in my head and didn’t want to color it in any way.
Let me share a little backstory about how I discovered Leonard. I used to teach fiction writing at the Appalachian Young Writers Workshop, sponsored by Humanities Tennessee held for a week every summer in in Harrogate, TN. On the first day, I would walk the kids, teenagers, to a small cemetery on the Lincoln Memorial University campus and ask them to develop a character based on a tombstone and the clues offered by the land around them. There was one tombstone that read, Leonard Bush’s Leg, 1912. I thought this was amazing. But only one camper ever chose to write about Leonard Bush. I could not shake him though. I finally reached out to the university to see what they knew. They responded that Leonard Bush was twelve years old when he lost his leg. And that was the only fact I took from his real life.
I still do not know much about the real Leonard Bush beyond the fact that he was born in nearby Tiprell, Tennessee. He lost his leg following a cut on rusty barbed wire. He was a Baptist, a school teacher, and the register of deeds in Claiborne County. He was married twice and had six children.
Donna Meredith
DM: I thought Emmett and June Bush beautifully portrayed the problems faced in many marriages—even successful ones. Could you talk about their relationship and what you hope the story conveys about marriage?
SG: I’m about to celebrate my 40th wedding anniversary so the husband/wife relationship is something I have been giving a lot of thought to lately. Marriage is tough. It’s hard work. At times miserable and at times pure joy. Emmett and June are very committed to one another. They are in it for the long haul. They may fuss and fight. And they may have moments when they want to walk. But they won’t because at the end of the day, when tempers settle, they love one another desperately.
DM: Please tell us how the Big Sugar River came to play such an important role in the story. How familiar with it are you? Fished it? Swam in it?
SG: Big Sugar Creek is located in Sweetwater. I exaggerated it a bit for the story. But no, I have not fished there. I have fished other Tennessee waters though. From the time I was five years old, I was cane-pole fishing Old Hickory Lake in Middle Tennessee with my grandfather. Later in life, I learned to fly fish in the Ocoee in East Tennessee.
DM: What other research was required for the writing of this story?
SG: There’s always a lot of small details that must be researched when writing fiction — the cost of a gallon of gas in 1961 or the price of a newspaper, etc. But for this book, the most important research I did regarded amputation and how both a child and parent would respond to it. And specifically in 1961. So I spoke with several seasoned prosthetists, staff at Fillauer (a leader in orthotic and prosthetic innovation), a psychologist, and family directly impacted by the loss.
DM: One thread that weaves its way throughout the novel explores different superstitions people embrace. Could you talk a bit about these superstitions and why you think we cling to them? Are they useful in some way or harmful?
SG: I don’t believe in superstitious practices like walking under a ladder or opening an umbrella in a room. Yet, I don’t do either one! I’ve heard these warnings since childhood, and my adherence to them is more muscle memory than anything else. But I do understand why people believe and cling to them. Superstitious practices, like June covering a mirror, provide a very physical way of dealing and coping with the intangible. Better yet, they give us a sense of control during times of uncertainty. And I think even Emmett, who believes it all very silly, understood that it brought June some needed comfort at a difficult time.
DM: What are you working on next?
SG: A sequel to my first book, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. Something I never thought I’d do, but here I am!
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