Thank you for taking the time to watch me talk about my comps! The Last Long Cry is 54 pages and follows the story of Marie, a young woman who is facing the judgement of a small town due to the stigma left behind from her alcoholic parents. She is newly married; however, her husband panics at the thought of becoming a father and decides to leave to work on an offshore oil rig. At the same time, Marie is left by her best friend, Tim, when he proposes to an upper-class woman who does not want him to be associated with her. These events pile on Marie and she suffers a miscarriage. The combined stress of these events results in her having a dissociative episode and leaves her vulnerable to outside influences. Brother Jacob, a corrupt preacher who focuses on women as bearers of life and little more, finds Marie half dead after her miscarriage. He uses her weakened state to throw dogma at her and convince her that her life, soul, and all future children are in danger if she does not come with him to his reclusive community.
My writing has been influenced by growing up in the mountains of West Virginia where people cling to an older way of life. My literary influences have been Frankenstein by Mary Shelley where I found the true horror to be the treatment of the creature, not its creation, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë where I was always intrigued by the character of Bertha who is presented as mad because she diverges from the socially expected role of a woman, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe where the setting is undeniably essential to the story and enables it to happen. With a fire and brimstone upbringing, I have also always been interested in the darker stories in the Bible and what would happen if a preacher narrowed his focus to only them.
So good to hear you read the story aloud, Rebecca! The rhythm of your prose really comes to life. The pathos is palpable. I look forward to one day reading the completed novel.
Rebecca, this is such compelling work. It reflects your willingness to grapple with life in its complexity, to confront challenges, to explore place and love and faith – and how powerful to do that with creative words. Your introduction and photographs create such a sense of your home and family. Thank you for sharing this, and keep in touch.
Beautifully done, Rebecca! It’s wonderful to see and hear you “reading in place” in West Virginia. (You and Daniel will need to establish a new Carleton alumni club there!). I am, of course, delighted to know that “Spirit of Place” played a part in inspiring your Comps. You know (just like Wendell Berry) that “if you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.” Congratulations!
It’s wonderful to hear your work, Rebecca, and also your eloquent ruminations on the importance of family and place. Congratulations!
Really nice to hear it in your voice. I heard it in my mind when I read it too! You have a lovely soft vernacular (spoken and written) that makes me think of home, the hills and the people. I want to know the rest of the story!
Congratulations, Rebecca, on a wonderfully evocative presentation of a fascinating comps project. I love your rhythmic voice and the strong sense of place and of family that you create.
Congratulation Becky! I am so proud of you and beyond amazed at the beautiful work you’ve done with your comps. I still remember reading the first few chapters and needing to stop because of how emotional and moving it was. I’m looking forward to the finished novel (and buying a signed copy!)
Truly stunning… I wish this video would extend into a full audiobook. As others have noted, the photographs you include add enormously. I can’t wait to read further chapters. Marie is the kind of character that lingers after putting aside the book, and seems to exist “out there” and not just on the page.
Since you cite the influence of folk stories and fairy tales, would you consider accompanying the novel with illustrations? I’m reminded of Philip Pullman’s story “Clockwork”, which is deeply chilling and has stark illustrations at some particularly bleak moments.