GREENE COUNTY NATIVE WRITES DEBUT NOVEL – WHERE THE CREEK RUNS
From Staff Reports
A Greene County native is celebrating the publication of her first novel and will be back in her old stomping grounds later this month to discuss the book and enjoy the moment with friends and family.
Mary Shepard Abraham’s first novel, Where the Creek Runs, is a story about the complexity of life in the deep south and the journey of a young woman faces after choosing to defy her father’s expectations. The new author will be in Leakesville on Monday, April 24 for a book signing event. Hodges Pharmacy will host the function and Mary, as she is known to friends, will be available form 10 a.m. until noon and again from 2-4 p.m. Whether or not they want to purchase a book, Mary hopes local residents will come by the store for a visit as she looks forward to connecting with old friends as well as meeting new ones.
A 1963 graduate of Leakesville High School, Mary went on to attend the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing. Her years in nursing were spent at UMMC in Jackson and at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg. She and her husband live in Hattiesburg and have two children and three grandchildren.
A powerful and beautifully-written story of unrequited love, Where the Creek Runs is a compelling literary debut. As the main character Hannah learns over time, it is not enough to simply wish for change; she gains the strength and internal resolve to follow her heart – even though it requires defying expectation and convention.
Those not able to attend the book signing at Hodges Pharmacy, can visit GREENEWOODSPUBLISHING.COM if you would like to purchase Where the Creek Runs.
You can also connect with Where the Creek Runs on Facebook.
About the novel…
Where the Creek Runs tells the story of Hannah McMollison, a product of what appears to be the perfect south Mississippi family of the early 1900’s. The main character is bright, well mannered, devout and eager to please her parents, especially her father Bill. But what looks harmonious and loving from a distance is a home filled with deep, buried secrets. Her father, obsessed with power, image and political gain, is willing to go to any length to achieve success. Nothing can get in the way of his ambition. Her properly submissive mother endures with dignity and grace her husband’s demands and does all in her power to maintain peace in the household.
Hannah’s older sister, the more assertive Katherine, breaks away from their father’s dominance and marries against his wishes, but Hannah quietly maintains compliant behavior well into her high school years, until Thomas Stokes comes along.
Thomas, the son of John Stokes (her father’s friend and fellow politician), meets Hannah and sweeps her off her feet. Loves is stamped indelibly in Hannah’s heart, but the relationship, seen as detrimental to political goals, is unacceptable to both fathers. The ensuing decisions ignite the temper of Bill McMollison, ultimately forcing Hannah to make a daring escape.
