Not many things can beat sitting around a table with a group of like-minded people to discuss books.
I was recently invited to the monthly meeting of Town and Country, a local women’s group of lifelong friends. From historians to teachers to retired medical professionals, we gathered at a friend’s house over hors d’oeuvres, bourbon slush, and elder blossom liquor to discuss my novel, Let Evening Come.
Some in the group have a direct relationship to
Native Americans, and I learned of the four sacred herbs: sage, cedar,
sweetgrass and tobacco, a discussion that led seamlessly into that of my novel with its Indigenous components.
Other members of
the group are affialiated with the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution, the historic patriotic organization of forward thinking
women established in 1918. There were
bookmarks proclaiming The American Creed: I therefore believe it is my duty
to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to
respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies. Penned by William Tyler Page in 1918, a
creed that seems more urgent today.
While they don’t call themselves a “book club”, on this day it was.
