Rebecca Brown's Interview with
Sheila J. Williams
Author of
The Shade of My Own Tree

Rebecca:
After years of abuse, Opal Sullivan leaves her marriage to save her life. When did you realize you had this story in you?

Sheila:
It was about two years ago. The story rose from the ashes of several media accounts of tragic incidents of domestic violence in my home community. I wanted to honor the sacrifice of these women who gave their lives in order to live free. I also wanted to write about the women who survive & serve as beacons for the rest of us that a violence-free life is possible. When I wrote the proposal, I fully expected my editor to reject it because the story wouldn't have a tidy ending. But she did accept it & she liked it!

Rebecca:
Did you write alone, have a teacher or belong to a writing group? Had you read Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own?

Sheila:
When I first started writing longer works of fiction, I was writing alone. At some point, I joined a writers group but the dynamics were wrong so I went back to the wilderness, so to speak, & continued to work on my own.

The turning point came in the late 1980s when I was introduced to Patricia Sabia who became my mentor. I enjoyed several years of informed & supportive criticism which really helped me both in technique & confidence. Now I am very fortunate to have a cadre of writer-friends - what a treat!

I read Woolf's A Room of One's Own quite some time ago & long before I started writing. Her observations on the potential of women are still provocative.

Rebecca:
I found the way you told of Opal's slow emergence from years of marital siege well expressed. I never did like that “splendid isolation” away from family & friends. Why do you think husbands batter their wives, & are all marriages doomed once it starts? I know, you're no “expert” ... except ...

Sheila:
I did a fair amount of research for Shade, anecdotal from law enforcement, social workers & other professionals, the stories of survivors & statistical information from the Department of Justice & the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association & others. They all said the same thing: domestic violence is about intimidation & control. Many of the batterers grew up in households where this activity was commonplace, some were abused as children & many have very low self-esteem. They use violence in situations that they can control versus those in which they cannot, say, in the workplace. I don't know if all of these unions are doomed: I met some very resilient & hopeful women who are participating in therapy with their spouses. Only time will tell.

Rebecca:
I was so rooting for Opal as she set forth. What is it about a story of a woman getting a place of her own that moves us to both exultation & terror?

Sheila:
It's back to the room of one's own! We grow up sharing space: rooms with our sisters, roommates in college. If we take a lover or marry, we share again & on it goes! Once the children come, personal space for women disappears because, as every mother knows, there is no personal space when you are “Mommy”. I don't think men feel the same way about space as we do. Just having a room, a corner, a table, that is ours alone has so much meaning, emotionally & spiritually. Yet we still wrestle with the concepts of being alone versus being lonely. Sometimes, women believe that they are the same thing. & the idea of starting over is frightening in itself. What if I fail? What will people think?

Rebecca:
There is something deep in women's psyche that revels in finding abandoned houses & bringing them back to life. How did you come across the connection of a station for fleeing slaves in the Underground Railroad?

Sheila:
Shade is set in an Ohio River town at the northern edge of the Appalachians on the southern side of that dark river, much like my own current hometown. Underground Railroad activity was rampant here -- the Ohio River is blocks away & there are several old homes in the area that served as stations on the route to freedom. Many of the stations had tunnels that led to the river where boats took the fugitives across to Ohio. Today, the interstates whisk you across at sixty mph. But the ghosts of those who walked across the frozen river or were rowed across whisper loudly. They won't let me forget.

Rebecca:
Opal had had to paint in secret. What do women give up when they become wives, must they always do so, & must having children also change the mix?

Sheila:
Opal painted in secret because Ted was so critical of her & of her art. She was very maternal about her art & knew that in order to protect it, she had to hide it. While I'm not convinced that marriage always has to change the dynamics, children often do. It's a matter of the number of hours in a day! When my children were small, I wrote sparingly -- a few sentences, a few paragraphs a week over many years. I just didn't have the time or the energy to do more. Mothers can accomplish a lot but perhaps not all at the same time! As I used to tell my babies, “Mommy is not an octopus!”

Rebecca:
How has your life changed since finishing & publishing your book?

Sheila:
I am amazed! I probably work harder than I ever did in my corporate life & I enjoy every minute of it. I am a mini-corporation: the CEO, CFO, Marketing & PR director, production line & quality control! I take my work very seriously in that I try to tell the best story I can. & I've made the friendships of writers whom I admire. They have been very generous with their advice, support & encouragement. It has been very satisfying.

Rebecca:
What do you hope Readers take away from The Shade of My Own Tree?

Sheila:
Hope. The Shade of My Own Tree is the story of an ordinary woman who makes an extraordinary change in her life. She learns that she is brave, beautiful & resilient. The resilience of the human spirit is an amazing & luminous entity. Despite her circumstances, Opal is a survivor. I always try to infuse my stories with a semblance of hope.

Rebecca:
Thank you Sheila, for writing a story that needs to be told so that women in trouble can get an idea of how to move on in their lives.

Do catch my review of The Shade of My Own Tree -- you're going to like it! I hope it makes you go out & buy yourself a copy!

www.sheilajwilliams.com

Rebecca Brown
(Published 01/11/04)