“Did you hear about that Pinson girl?”
After more than a decade of writing “That Pinson Girl,” seventh-generation Mississippi author Gerry Wilson visited the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System to publicly discuss her debut novel with fellow author Ellen Ann Fentress on Monday afternoon.
Wilson, who was born in Pontotoc, said the book draws on her personal experience, family history and connections to the South, while also telling a fictional story set during the WWI era.
“It’s a time that affected my family members deeply, particularly my maternal grandparents,” Wilson said. “My granddaddy went to France in WWI, but he arrived late and didn’t stay very long. He actually arrived in France about three weeks before the Armistice was signed.”
Wilson said the book focuses on a young woman named Leona Pinson, who at 17, gives birth to an illegitimate child. While this kind of scandal would typically ruin a young woman’s life – which leads Leona to imagine her gossiping neighbors saying the titular sentence of the book – the leading character pushes against the odds to make it through the forces working against her.
“She gives birth to an illegitimate child, which back in those days, would just ruin a young woman’s life, basically,” Wilson said. “She’s an embarrassment to her family, she’s shunned by her community and she has one friend who sticks by her. And she refuses to name the father.”
Throughout the course of the book, she said, other secrets of the Pinson family are revealed to the reader, including the secrets of Leona’s mother Rose.
Wilson said she started writing the book back in 2010. Over time, Wilson put the novel away and took it back out again, continuing to develop the story. But she never felt satisfied with publishing the novel until after the COVID-19 pandemic.
While her novel had already previously incorporated the Spanish influenza epidemic into the story, the pandemic pushed her to finish the novel with a new sense of urgency.
“That’s one of the reasons that time period appealed to me,” Wilson said. “It’s personal. It’s fictionalized, but it’s personal.”
Wilson tried reaching out to a variety of literary agents throughout the publication process. But eventually, she sent her story to Regal House Publishing, which published the book in February.
Throughout her writing process, Wilson started out using the title, “Spirit Light,” and then “Spirit Lamp.” But when she sent the story to her editors, she said, the title changed to “That Pinson Girl” to let readers know what the story was about immediately.
Many of the characters, Wilson said, carry their own secrets and sometimes, dark pasts. Fentress called the characters of the book “beautifully complicated,” since no one person is truly good or evil. But Wilson said the ending is still hopeful.
“I felt the best I could do for Leona was give her hope,” Wilson said. “And isn’t that the best that some of us can do at some point?”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
