Reviewed by Jessica Stafford
Charlotte Area News Book Editor
"The Dry Grass of August" takes us back to a time in our very own
Charlotte and explores the complicated relationship between blacks and
whites on the eve of Brown vs. Board of Education. It is an honest
look at the feelings of people involved from all perspectives.
Charlotte author Anna Jean Mayhew makes her debut into literature with
this heart wrenching story. It was long journey to create this book,
but for this reader it was worth the wait. Her use of dramatic irony
tears at the heart as the reader makes their way into the inevitable.
Her protagonist, 13 year old June, finds herself in a whirlwind of
social change. While her family seems to be happy and successful, the
real heart and rock of the family is in their maid Mary.
The story is full of Charlotte references from Queens Road West to
Daddy Grace. Mayhew compiled a large amount of research to accurately
convey the time period and culture of the story. Her research
stretched from the Carolina Room at the main branch of the Charlotte
Public Library (a resource that I can personally recommend as being
wonderful) all the way to Washington, DC to see an exhibit on Brown
vs. Board of education. Her attention to accuracy does not go
unnoticed; as you read the 1950s seems to fill your mind in culture
and setting. It is one of those books that you get so engrossed in
that the summer setting of the story makes you forget that we are
actually in the middle of winter.
She created characters that are so vivid that they are living lives
that make the readers question what their own response would be in the
face of social injustice – if they would have the same audacity or
naivety. Even cameo characters have a realism to them that goes to the
old saying "there are no small roles."
"Delta Magazine" recently named "The Dry Grass of August" as one of
the top 5 books of 2011 and the book just had its 8th printing. If you
have not read this book yet it is a must! Then you will be ready for
the next book she is currently working on, "Tomorrow's Bread."
The Dry Grass of August (Kensington Books; $15.00; April 2011)
