Sometimes, you find story ideas in the least likely places.
The first inspiration for my historical novel Brookhaven was the family Bible. It had been passed down from my great-grandfather to his youngest son, my grandfather, then my father, and then to me. For decades, it existed in the condition my father and I received it – wrapped in an old brown paper grocery bag and tied with twine.
I’d paid most attention to the family records, six pages of births, deaths, and marriages. I’d removed the wrappings and checked those pages not long after my father gave it to me. The writing was all in one hand, my great-grandfather’s, and the writing had begun to fade. To preserve the records, I typed them into a document.
When I finally had the Bible conserved in 2022, I learned from the conservator that the volume had been printed about 1870 and was one of hundreds of thousands generally sold by door-to-door salesmen. These Bibles became popular after the Civil War, especially for the family records sections. So many families had lost loved ones that these Bibles offered a way to commemorate the people who’d died.
To continue reading, please see my post today at the ACFW blog.
Photograph: A page from the family Bible records.
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