The Dust Bowl Orphans

Happy New Year!! We began our 2023 with Celeste hosting our first meeting, featuring Suzette Harrison's book, "The Dust Bowl Orphans".

It is nothing like a cool, pleasant 60-degree book club day with sunny skies. Celeste welcomed us into Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants where she had Valentine-themed treats and her signature calendars adorning the gift table. We were excited that EVERY member was present today - this has not occurred since our December 2018 meeting!!

Celeste began by welcoming everyone and asking guest, Yvonne to say a blessing over our meals and meeting. We began our questions with the cover and name of the book. Everyone agreed that they liked the book cover, however Bonnie mentioned an insightful alternative name for the book, " Divine Connections" which evoked some ooooos, ahhhs and a lonesome... okaaaaay (Smile). When asked what was liked least/most...the responses were all over the place. Everyone loved the writing style and the alternating narratives, however some of the storylines did not seem as plausible as others, to some. Kim referred to the narrative of Faith with Hope and how they needed a form of counseling to deal with their situation. Although counseling was not really an option in the 1930s, a member alluded to possibly a church/spiritual intervention of some sort in California.

When Micah was given the vision that led to the discovery of Faith and Hope, Celeste asked the question as to why we felt Micah was given the vision and not Henry. Kim noted that you have to be more on the "kind" side of the spectrum to be chosen. She went on to say that Henry was "the devil" therefore unworthy. Kim also mentioned how she appreciated that (for the most part) all of the African American male characters in the book, presented positive images.

Once author Suzette Harrison joined our meeting via Zoom, we were excited to hear her words regarding her writing.

Valerie commented on her shear love for the writing and the storyline of the book. She also interjected her disdain for Henry's character, and how she appreciated that there was not a resounding theme of him being violent towards Faith. To quote Suzette..."Quite frankly, haven't we read enough of that?" What an accurate statement to sum up our feelings. I asked about the occurrences of numerology and spirituality in this book and some of her others. One of the usages of numerology/spirituality to me was the "Angel Number" 13:13 when quoting a scripture. Suzette mentioned that she had only become aware of angel numbers after she wrote the book. This further validates how characters, ancestors and spirituality assist in writing. To quote Twilla..."I just got chills".

Suzette did address the question regarding Micah not being written as Faith's love interest,

stating that would have basically ended Faith's storyline. She would have remained in an interracial lackluster marriage..."The End". She also responded to an earlier discussion question regarding Micah receiving the vision vs. Henry - stating that you must be "pure in heart" to receive a spiritual message. Yasssss Suzette...,PREACH!!

Before leaving, in response to a question by Karen, Suzette mentioned her intention to continue writing about the westward migration and indicated how pleased she was that we wanted to hear more about this. While it is sometimes difficult to read about slavery and the Jim Crowe Era, it is a necessary evil. We appreciate African American authors like Suzette having the courage to "pen" books like this. When comes from a place of love, it is more palatable to read OUR historical fiction when it is written by US!

Thank you, Celeste for selecting this amazing piece of literature and bringing it to

U.S. G.I.R.L.S. This journey from 1930s Oklahoma to present day California was a long and dusty trail filled with lyrical prose, humor, sadness and love. We all have a Tomas and Mae Princessa Wilson in our family tree, it is up to us to climb that tree through genealogy research, if we would like to get to the top.