Reads for the Holidays

by Courtney Pierce

This holiday season, I’ll be breaking from my decades-old tradition of poring through the inspirational stories of Charles Dickens. I’ve always embraced his tales of the human condition in my antique editions, two-columns of tiny print on whisper-thin, fragile pages.

Holiday reads are about connecting to emotions that re-calibrate our attitudes, allowing us to take stock in our abundances. In the process, we soften our scar tissue, and lift ourselves to be better people than we think we are.

At the urging of my 85-year-old Mom, I picked up a full-price hardback edition of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Yes . . . I’m one of those few reader/writers who are willing to pay full pop for a keeper-book on the shelf. It’s an amazing debut novel by Ms. Owens and is one of those rare first efforts that became a runaway bestseller. When I read the summary on the front flap, l worried that it might be depressing. Who wants a downer of a book around the holidays? But now I understand its success, and it wasn't just a new writer's beginner's luck.

Ms. Owens's writing style and voice in this book are unique. The combination completely captures the culture of “swamp folk” in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Like many colorful locations in that part of our great country, the demographics, history, and topography shape the attitudes and beliefs of their inhabitants. Having myself grown up on the East Coast, both in the north and nearly south, this book hit home for me on many levels. Mom picked another winner that makes me want to work harder at being a successful writer.

Six-year-old Kya, the youngest of five kids, is living in a shack in the remote marsh country. Her alcoholic father has driven away her mother. Kya’s siblings all leave too, one-by-one, to get away from their poverty-stricken life. When her father is killed, there is only Kya, left alone to fend for herself. The long arm of the law and authorities don’t often reach to people in the marsh. A reader can’t get through the first six chapters without appreciating the gift of family and having enough to eat. I found myself so hungry that I gobbled up every word.

This is a story of survival against all odds, jumping up to touch bottom. Little Kya not only learns to survive, but to thrive with ingenuity, purpose, and instinct. The things we take for granted in lifeꟷeducation, socialization, electricity, the clothes on our backꟷare huge leaps for little Kya. And survive she does, even after being accused of murder. She’s a vulnerable target, because Kya is considered to be merely swamp trash by the locals.

As I read this book, I am reminded of the poignant real-life story of Frank McCourt as told in his memoir, Angela’s Ashes. Even after 23 years since it's publication, I can never erase the scene where young Frank scours the Irish pub for discarded fish and chips wrappers just to lick the grease. The settings of these two books are thousands of miles apart, but the refusal to crumble under adverse circumstances makes the world much smaller. We who have so much, eat so much, whine so much are humbled by these stories. They inspire us to give away more than we take, even if for a short while. Then we retreat back into our comfortable ways until the next book inspires us.

Maybe I haven’t abandoned my beloved Dickens after all. I will see his messages everywhere this holiday season, holding up a mirror to the selfish, divided, and mean-spirited. And in their reflection, should they choose to see it, is a countenance that projects benevolence, unity, and kindness.

I’m in the early stages of drafting my seventh book, Big Sky Talk. The research phase of this process is both arduous and satisfying. I'll be delving into Native American folklore in order to weave authenticity into the prose. My goal is to sit down with tribal elders to discuss the spiritual meaning of reincarnation among the Blackfoot, Kootenai, and Salish tribes, which are prevalent here in Montana. Access to this wisdom must be earned . . . and so I shall work hard. I think I may have discovered my new Dickens.

Lessons heard. Lessons learned.

I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. I now live in one of the most beautiful places in the world: Kalispell, Montana. Snow-capped mountains and abundant wildlife surround me at every turn. We fish and hunt to fill our freezer for the long winter ahead. We hike to remain healthy. A loving family wraps me in their arms by the glow of a wood stove.

And most important, I still have my freedom.

Photo: Micah Brooks

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Kalispell, Montana with her husband, stepdaughter, and their brainiac cat, Princeton. Courtney writes for the baby boomer audience. She spent 28 years as an executive in the entertainment industry and used her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. She studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, Courtney is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and She Writes. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal.

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Check out all of Courtney's books: 

courtney-pierce.com and

windtreepress.com 

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Book 3 of the
Dushane Sisters
Trilogy

The Dushane Sisters Trilogy concludes with Indigo Legacy, available now. There's love in the air for Olivia and Woody, but will family intrigue get in the way? Ride along for the wild trip that starts in a New York auction house and peaks in a mansion on Boston's Beacon Hill. 

The Dushane sisters finally get to the truth about their mother.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."