Historical novelist Susie Finkbeiner wraps up her compelling Pearl Spence series with A Song of Home: A Novel of the Swing Era (Kregel). Having settled into a new life after her mother’s departure, Pearl Spence finds her world turned upside-down again when her mother unexpectedly returns. In this exclusive interview, Susie talks about her obsession with the Dust Bowl era, offers more insight into her young protagonist, and reveals how writing the Pearl Spence series has affected her own life.
The Pearl Spence series is set in the era of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. What captured your imagination about this time period and the events that occurred?
When I was a little girl, my grandma liked telling me stories from the Great Depression. She never romanticized the era, but her stories of survival and making do intrigued me, even at a young age. She lived in Southeast Michigan during the 1930s so her stories were about helping out on her aunt and uncle’s farm, hitching rides to the local beach, and dancing in clubs.
It wasn’t until I read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck in high school that I learned about the Dust Bowl. That set me on a 20-year obsession during which I read everything I could about the era, watched every documentary, and studied the photography of Dorothea Lange.
Honestly, I hope to write about the 1930s again sometime. It’s a decade of history with many layers of rich story just waiting to be written.
Pearl Spence is a fascinating character. Would you tell us a little about her and why you chose someone this age to be your protagonist?
Pearl is at once spunky and vulnerable, tough and kind, curious and daydreamy. Of all the characters I’ve written, she’s most like me. I feel a kinship to her that is quite difficult to explain. Suffice it to say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing her and miss her a good deal.
When I decided to write my Dust Bowl story (A Cup of Dust, the first novel in this series), I knew immediately that it would require a young protagonist. I wanted to capture the wonder of hope even in the midst of suffering and desolation. Such an outlook spoke of childlike faith to me.
There was risk involved in choosing someone so young to tell these stories to adults. Yet it was worthwhile and I’m so glad I chanced it.
In what ways are the stories in this series relatable to modern readers?
There is an underlying current which runs throughout the three novels: hope. Pearl lives on hope during the most difficult times. Even when it wavers, she never completely loses her faith in the God Meemaw introduced her to. The God who sees us and cares, the God who hears us when we call.
No matter how difficult life becomes, no matter how deep in a pit we feel, we can rely on hope. Now, that hope doesn’t mean that life will turn out the way we expected or planned. Often life shifts into something we could never have dreamed. Other times, we have to go through years of refining to see our hope realized. As Christians, we do have hope, no matter what. Hope that we are children of a loving Father who has sent His Son to rescue us.
The final book of the series is A Song of Home. Can you give us a synopsis without revealing too much? How has Pearl changed and matured throughout this journey?
Pearl is still settling into life in Michigan, trying to get used to winter and her new town. Lingering in the forefront of her mind is the grief of all she’s lost: home, her sister, her mama. But when she learns how to dance, the music has a way of drowning out all those worries for a time. When Mama returns, Pearl and the family must adjust again. They struggle together to recapture what it means to be at home.
As with any child who experiences trauma, Pearl learns to be a bit more guarded, less trusting. Throughout her story, she comes to rely more on her family and her best friend, Ray. Meemaw’s words concerning God’s caring nature come to mind in her more troubling moments. By the end of the story, Pearl is still curious and daydreamy, but she’s also growing in wisdom and the ability to forgive.
How has writing this series changed you? Has it challenged your faith in any way?
From the moment I wrote the first paragraph of Pearl’s story, I knew that she would change me. Writing from her perspective has made me a gentler person, someone who is a bit more patient. I’ve grown in empathy, striving to see folks the way she would with her innocent and curious eye. Pearl has this ability to see the bad in the world but not be jaded by it. It’s her lack of cynicism that I find refreshing, and it’s something I try to incorporate into my own mind-set.
As I worked through this series, I was often surprised at the bits of encouragement I found on the page. Aunt Carrie, Meemaw, Daddy, Opal, Ray—they found ways to lift up others with the words they spoke and the ways they treated others. This is home, isn’t it? Speaking truth to others to point them to our Savior, loving someone else enough to edify and encourage, to remind them that they are loved. This is a practice I’m working into my everyday life, to remind the people around me of how truly dear they are to our Father.
Can you tell us what you’re working on next?
These days I’m working with a different group of characters in the 1960s. It’s taken me awhile to not feel as if I’m betraying Pearl, but I’m past that point. I’m falling in love with this story and hoping my readers will too.