Thu, Aug 28 2008
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Published March 29, 2008 12:19 am - Novel addresses effect of racial divide By D.E. Smoot Phoenix Staff Writer When Hillary Jordan sat down to write her debut novel, she had in mind a “family drama” she hoped would be a “real page-turner.”
“Mudbound,” published earlier this month by Algonquin Books, turned out to be much more. Jordan’s unpublished manuscript previously was awarded the Bellwether Prize, which recognizes literature that promotes social change. “Mudbound” explores the challenges Jordan’s characters faced during the Jim Crow era in Mississippi as World War II waned and heroes returned home to find society unwilling to change. “This is a story about two families — one white and one black — who live on this farm,” Jordan said. “It is a story of forbidden love, betrayal and murder. I never intended for the book to be polemic or preachy.” Critics, however, laud Jordan and her debut novel for its message of social responsibility. Jordan’s acclaim is credited to her ability to tell her story through the distinct voices of six characters whose lives expose the prejudices revealed by racism. Jordan began writing the story through the eyes of her grandmother, who allowed her to get a glimpse of the bigotry evident during the Jim Crow era. But as the story line developed, so did the voices of her other characters. “I really started out to write a family drama,” Jordan said. “As I began developing the characters ... the story started to get bigger, and the message of social change evolved.” Like a lot of writers, Jordan said she drew some of her ideas from her own experiences. The idea for her first book, Jordan said, was sparked by a post-graduate writing assignment for which she drew upon an old family story she heard during her childhood in Muskogee and Dallas. That story, Jordan said, had a lot to do with her grandparents’ ill-fated move to an Arkansas farm, a move nobody cared much about. Jordan’s book is set on a similarly situated farm in the Mississippi Delta on a plot of land mired in mud. Muskogee resident and local businessman Jan Jordan said his daughter’s first novel is “a powerful statement on racism in America.” “Anybody who reads it will definitely have second thoughts about it,” Jordan said. Book signing WHAT: Hillary Jordan will be promoting her book during a speaking and signing engagement. 
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