Carolyn W. Hooker

About Carolyn

Advance Praise For Leaving Edgefield

About the Book

Before the world knew the name Essie Mae Washington-Williams –before the headlines and the truth cracked through decades of silence – there was Carrie Butler.

Leaving Edgefield: Carrie Butler’s Story is a work of historical fiction that reimagines a story silenced by time. Set in 1948 in the poverty ward of the Philadelphia General Hospital, Leaving Edgefield introduces Carrie Butler, the mother of Thurmond’s secret bi-racial daughter. Carrie is dying of renal failure at age thirty-eight while, at the same time, Thurmond is running as the Dixiecrat segregationist candidate for President of the United States. Carrie has asked the eminent Philadelphia attorney, Mrs. Sadie T. M. Alexander, whom Carrie met in her job as a seamstress, to document her story to ensure that Thurmond will keep the promise he made to pay for their daughter’s education. Because Carrie is dying, her urgency to tell her story propels the novel from beginning to end.

From the rolling fields of the Jim Crow South to the streets of postwar Philadelphia, Carrie’s story is one of heartbreak and strength. It is one woman’s account of how she manages to secure a future for her daughter against all odds.

After Strom Thurmond died in 2003 at the age of 100, his biological daughter, Essie Mae Washington Williams, publicly revealed her father’s identity. While boundless information is available about her father on every stage and aspect of his life, very little verifiable information is available about Essie Mae’s mother, Carrie Butler. Census records housed at the Edgefield Historical Society, her family’s birth and death records there and on Ancestry.com, as well as bits and pieces about her in works on the Internet provide at least some basic information about her. Also, many books and articles about Thurmond reference Carrie Butler, some speculating that their relationship was based on mutual affection. I’ve relied on information available about Thurmond and his family as well as on the limited information available on Carrie Butler and her relatives to try to piece together the events of her life and imagine the interaction that occurred between her and Strom Thurmond. While no one will ever know the true nature of their relationship, I am inclined to believe that the complete imbalance of power between Thurmond, the twenty-two-year-old son of a powerful, white Southern family, and Butler, a sixteen-year-old black maid in the Thurmond household, would have made such a relationship unlikely and have taken that stance in the novel.

"Leaving Edgefield gives voice to Carrie Butler. Hooker has written an important story, one that extends to the deepest roots of inequity in the American South and brings to the surface the unacknowledged trauma countless women domestic workers have endured while trying to earn a living.

- Michele Moore, Author of The Cigar Factory and finalist for the Bellwether Prize for Literature

"Leaving Edgefield is a beautiful novel, full of unquestionably genuine souls fighting to maintain dignity, faith, and affection in their lives."

-Jeffery Blount, Author of Mr. Jimmy from Around the Way and winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for African American Fiction

"A haunting tale of unflinching motherly love despite often crippling powerlessness. From the first page, there's an urgency in Butler's story that will stay with readers long after the last, perfectly nuanced sentence."

-Michel Stone, MEd, Author of The Iguana Tree and Border Child

Carolyn W. Hooker taught English for over thirty years at both the high school and college level. A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, she received a B.S. Degree in Education and an M.A. Degree in English from the University of South Carolina. It was at USC graduate school where she developed a love for literature under such notable professors as Donald J. Greiner and James Dickey.

She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband and two dogs. Leaving Edgefield: Carrie Butler’s Story is her debut novel.

Customer Reviews

What readers are saying about Carolyn's debut novel.

Carolyn's storytelling is captivating and deeply moving. A must-read!

Emily Johnson

Spartanburg

Leaving Edgefield is a beautifully written novel that resonates with anyone who appreciates heartfelt storytelling. Carolyn's passion for literature shines through every page.

Michael Smith

Charleston

★★★★★

★★★★★