At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking this a ‘woman’s book’. Its characters revolve around women and some of the issues raised are certainly primarily feminine; though even there the writer challenges preconceptions for these issues should be primarily human. It is not the literary equivalent of a chic flick… it is a book that makes you think. It is not always a comfortable read, but it is well written, well told and engrossing.

I saw a post by S.K. Nicolls on her website. Susan tells a good story, even within the limited scope of a blog post, and the details of her personal journey of discovery intrigued me. I bought the book.

Without giving the story away Red Clay and Roses explores the culture of the Southern States at a time in history when the various strata of society were as distinctly separate as oil and water and, as a rule, mixed less readily. Yet human emotions, both the good and the tragic, transcend these artificial barriers and you are not left with man and woman, black and white, but simply with people. That these people acted in ways we today might condemn raises the spectre of preconception and mirrors the changes in society; they were the creations of an era, acting from their accepted position, their ideas deeply ingrained. Do we, you wonder, do exactly the same and will future generations look back at us and wonder how we could behave as we do? This is a book that raises such questions.

Drawing on her own life experience, the author paints her characters in authentic colours. There are no saints or angels, no idealisations. Just real people… real lives, taken from history and cast in fiction, making one of those books that, once begun, you will find yourself continuing to read, engrossed in the individual stories that weave a tapestry of human experience.

There is an obvious reality to the description of place; the writer is familiar with her landscape and its people. That reality is also tangible in the way the characters are handled in many instances and you hear in the written word the veracity of the nurse who has handled these situations and the resulting emotional upheavals of those concerned throughout her career. It is this melding of personal experience and imagination that gives the book its credibility.

Reading in England there is the perspective of the outsider; our culture did not admit so readily to prejudice and division, though it was undeniably as prevalent and is arguably just as bad today, though less overtly so. It raises questions about racial and gender perceptions and, above all, about personal freedom… the freedom to choose.

Susan Nicolls addresses some difficult issues with this book and yet manages to maintain a position of non-judgemental neutrality as its writer. For this, and for the articulate, imaginative story that is Red Clay and Roses, I applaud her.

Highly recommended.

Red Clay and Roses

by S.K.Nicolls Available in Paperback and for Kindle via Amazon worldwide.

Susan Nicolls writes at: Mybrandofgenius

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