On Account of Conspicuous Women

Welcome to Roxboro, North Carolina, a crossroads hamlet where, in 1920, tobacco and bootleg liquor thrive and most folks seem to agree that women are meant to know their place. But four extraordinary, determined young ladies are about to leave their boot prints on this small Southern town, and nothing will ever be the same. Bertie, a hello-girl for Wheeler's Telephone Company and the only woman in Person County to own a Model T, is staunch in her support for female suffrage, and has an opinion on everything, including church, Negro rights, matrimony, and men, and considers every one of those opinions worth listening to. Bertie's cousin Guerine, perpetually engaged to her former desk-mate from their school days, believes there's no problem that can't be solved by either a fashionable dinner party or something ordered from the back of a women's magazine. Her attempts at cooking and entertaining are legendary. Doodle is the quiet farmer's daughter who can usually be found in men's overalls, feeding her handmade dumplings to her prize-winning geese. When her father passes away, leaving her with a shocking secret, Doodle discovers there's more to life than livestock . . . maybe even love. Newcomer Ina is a pampered debutante, a Virginia blue blood who seems far too glamorous to be teaching in Person County's one-room schoolhouse, especially swathed in a cloud of tragedy: Her beloved husband dropped dead on their New York honeymoon. When these four very different ladies come together in friendship, facing struggles and earning triumphs, they realize that they can achieve almost anything. These delightful, conspicuous women will steal your heart and inspire your soul. OnAccount of Conspicuous Women is a wonderful tale of human nature, Southern gentility, and great social change in a small town. With her brilliant debut novel, Dawn Shamp has captured perfectly a slice of 1920s life that is still relevant today, and she has crafted a marvelous world you won't want to leave. Advance Praise for On Account of Conspicuous Women: In her exquisite debut, Dawn Shamp gives us an amazing portrait of four suffragette-era women struggling to find their way in 1920s rural North Carolina. Shamp's accomplishment lies not only in her characterizations but also in the deft evocation of a time and place. The detail is just fascinating, and Shamp employs it all in service of a marvelous tale . . . historical fiction at its finest. ---Lynn York, author of The Sweet Life and The Piano Teacher Shamp has a wickedly funny intelligence, sharp as a splinter . . . you'll want to devour the whole blessed, cockamamie feast. I recommend you get set and dig in. ---Brad Watson, National Book Award Finalist and author of The Heaven of Mercury With humor, wisdom, compassion, and refreshingly lively language, Dawn Shamp transports us to 1920s Roxboro, North Carolina, where the big issues of women's suffrage and racial equality are explored through the experiences and friendships of four strong-minded young women. I fell in love with Bertie, Ina, Doodle, and Guerine, as well as all the other characters inhabiting this delightful, irresistible novel. ---Pamela Duncan, author of Moon Women and The Big Beautiful Here is a novel that is as fulfilling and bursting with flavor as the finest of Southern meals . . . the] characters are so real andhilarious and endearing that you'll swear they might rise right up off the page and shimmy across the room. Shamp has created a world so bright and palpable, I didn't want to leave it. ---Silas House, author of Clay's Quilt and The Coal Tattoo Dawn Shamp's wonderful debut novel is a compelling tribute to widely varied voices: those belonging to the unforgettable women gracing the page and those whom these characters are striving to protect and offer a public forum. Race, gender, class, religion---all lines are crossed in this perfectly depicted 1920s small Southern town. ---Jill McCorkle, author of Carolina Moon and July 7th