Who in their right mind would purposely buy a house known to be inhabited by a ghost? Well, okay, so your writer did just that, recently purchasing Eatonton’s historic Panola Hall, even after being warned that it was already home to Sylvia the Ghost. Then, who else would be so daring, so rash, so devil-may-care—strike that, so self-possessed (so to speak) as to knowingly make such a challenging accommodation choice?
That would most definitely be young Miss Nola Trenholm, the strong-willed, gutsy, and resourceful leading lady at the center of the newest novel by Georgia’s own Karen White, The Shop on Royal Street. Set in our beautiful nearby neighboring city of New Orleans, that sultry, steamy, and magical setting for a few other ghost stories over the years, the book shares our heroine Nola’s insistence on facing up to the ghosts of her past loves and losses while restoring an historic Creole cottage occupied by some troublesome spirits trapped in the house by past, secret evil.
White’s just-released book, The Shop on Royal Street, will be the focus of her “Meet the Author” presentation, live at Georgia Writers Museum on Tuesday morning, May 3: brunch at 10:00 a.m, program at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $45 per person ($40 each for two or more) and will include a floating brunch and a downtown shopping experience.
White does far more than simply rely on the vivid atmospherics supplied by the city itself, although it serves as a vital character all on its own, contributing the narrow byways, rainstorms, beignets, bougainvillea, drenching humidity, and café au laits of legend (and memory). Readers are treated to characters, from our lead to the supporting cast, all of them rich in personality and uniqueness. All are fully fleshed out with their own histories and distinct takes on the main moments of the story, as well as the relationships they share.
As an actor in my own family’s theatrical tradition, I appreciate that there are no “throw-away” characters. Instead, each of the important roles (and many of the “smaller parts”) are real people, true to their own points of view, given the dignity of being taken seriously, and are each vital to advancing the story. Even the ghosts on Dauphine Street are not the gimmick of so much modern prose, rather their status is simply accepted instead of overly dwelled upon, with their own stories and actions serving to expose past events and depict the long-lived (even post-life) price to be paid for life-altering choices.
Led by a strong woman of character and humor, Karen White’s The Shop on Royal Street is an engaging, funny, and entertaining read with numerous plot twists to sustain the mystery with a definite, even essential spectral angle until the very human and believable “reveal” at the end. Sylvia would most definitely approve.
Contact Georgia Writers Museum at www.georgiawritersmuseum.org for tickets.
Michael Homeier is a board member of Georgia Writers Museum and serves on the advisory board of Eatonton Main Street.
- Contributed