Blurb
Rejected by the exclusive women’s college she has her heart set on, Tess Seibert dreads the hot, aimless summer ahead. But when a chance encounter with a snake introduces her to Jacob Lane, a black college student home on his summer break, a relationship blooms that challenges the prejudices of her small, north Florida town.
When Jacob confesses that Tess’s uncle is trying to steal his family’s land, Tess comes face to face with the hatred that simmers just belowthe surface of the bay and marshes she’s loved since birth. With the help of her mentor Lulu, an herbal healer, Tess pieces together clues tothe mysterious disappearance of Jacob’s father twenty-two years earlier and uncovers family secrets that shatter her connection to the land she loves.
Tess and Jacob’s bond puts them both in peril, and discontent eventually erupts into violence. Tess is forced to make a decision. Can she right old wrongs and salvage their love? Or will prejudice and hatred kill any chance she and Jacob might have had?
Thanks so much for having me today! I’m excited to share some facts about Tess and Jacob, the main characters in my new novel, Summer of the Oak Moon.
2. Talk about skeletons in the closet ... there’s a veritable bevy of them in this story! Tess’s and Jacob’s families are good at keeping secrets. Uncertainty about their pasts unites the couple. And Tess’s resolve to poke and prod until she finds the truth leaves them both with some earth-shattering news to cope with.
3. Perhaps the strongest link between Tess and Jacob is their love for the land and for nature. Both of them grew up on the marsh and the bay and are tied to it in a deep, integral way. Tess puts it best when she says, “...I realized that Jacob and I shared a love of the water and the land. I used to assume everyone felt this way until I got older and realized that some people walked right past the beauty that the land and sea and sky offered up every day, not seeing it at all.” Jacob sees the natural world just as Tess does, as something to celebrate and enjoy—a must for their budding relationship.
4. While Tess and Jacob don’t always see eye-to-eye on the specifics, they share a belief in a God who is a creator of the natural world, who can heal, and who provides guidance for everyday life. Spirituality is an underlying theme in Summer of the Oak Moon. Each of the main characters—Tess, Lulu, and Jacob—has their own way of seeking God. Jacob is perhaps more comfortable with his faith than Tess, but Tess is the one who questions everything. They each push the other to understand the flip side of their own beliefs.
5. The key to Tess and Jacob—the trait that drives the story forward—is that they both are strong-willed and willing to go against cultural and familial expectations to do what they feel is right and appropriate. Tess realizes fairly quickly that her mother’s expectations for her don’t fit. Attending a prestigious women’s college may have been right for her mother and aunts but it wasn’t right for her. And Jacob and Tess both are independent and rebellious enough (in a good way) to buck the norms of society and risk a relationship with each other. That relationship challenges them in ways they never imagined and propels their personal growth beyond that of many of their family members and neighbors. Their strength of character also pushes them to keep trying until they uncover the truth about the past, even when that truth may prove painful.
When Jacob confesses that Tess’s uncle is trying to steal his family’s land, Tess comes face to face with the hatred that simmers just belowthe surface of the bay and marshes she’s loved since birth. With the help of her mentor Lulu, an herbal healer, Tess pieces together clues tothe mysterious disappearance of Jacob’s father twenty-two years earlier and uncovers family secrets that shatter her connection to the land she loves.
Tess and Jacob’s bond puts them both in peril, and discontent eventually erupts into violence. Tess is forced to make a decision. Can she right old wrongs and salvage their love? Or will prejudice and hatred kill any chance she and Jacob might have had?
Interview
1. One of the most interesting things about Tess is that she’s an herbalist. She not only grows a number of herbs and medicinal plants in her garden she also uses them to make soap, lotion, tea and other goodies. While writing the novel, I had fun researching folk remedies and healing herbs, and I even made a new friend when I approached an herbalist at my local farmers market. (She also makes homemade bread that is heavenly ... but that’s another story.) I hope I succeeded in capturing a sense of the somewhat forgotten art of healing with plants. I also like it that Jacob supports Tess in her endeavors and encourages her to turn her passion into a business.2. Talk about skeletons in the closet ... there’s a veritable bevy of them in this story! Tess’s and Jacob’s families are good at keeping secrets. Uncertainty about their pasts unites the couple. And Tess’s resolve to poke and prod until she finds the truth leaves them both with some earth-shattering news to cope with.
3. Perhaps the strongest link between Tess and Jacob is their love for the land and for nature. Both of them grew up on the marsh and the bay and are tied to it in a deep, integral way. Tess puts it best when she says, “...I realized that Jacob and I shared a love of the water and the land. I used to assume everyone felt this way until I got older and realized that some people walked right past the beauty that the land and sea and sky offered up every day, not seeing it at all.” Jacob sees the natural world just as Tess does, as something to celebrate and enjoy—a must for their budding relationship.
4. While Tess and Jacob don’t always see eye-to-eye on the specifics, they share a belief in a God who is a creator of the natural world, who can heal, and who provides guidance for everyday life. Spirituality is an underlying theme in Summer of the Oak Moon. Each of the main characters—Tess, Lulu, and Jacob—has their own way of seeking God. Jacob is perhaps more comfortable with his faith than Tess, but Tess is the one who questions everything. They each push the other to understand the flip side of their own beliefs.
5. The key to Tess and Jacob—the trait that drives the story forward—is that they both are strong-willed and willing to go against cultural and familial expectations to do what they feel is right and appropriate. Tess realizes fairly quickly that her mother’s expectations for her don’t fit. Attending a prestigious women’s college may have been right for her mother and aunts but it wasn’t right for her. And Jacob and Tess both are independent and rebellious enough (in a good way) to buck the norms of society and risk a relationship with each other. That relationship challenges them in ways they never imagined and propels their personal growth beyond that of many of their family members and neighbors. Their strength of character also pushes them to keep trying until they uncover the truth about the past, even when that truth may prove painful.
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