Synopses & Reviews
Jim Grimsley returns to the Southern landscape evoked so powerfully in his previous award-winning novels,
Winter Birds and
Dream Boy, to tell an unforgettable story of a woman's search for the meaning of a dream that has haunted her throughout her life.
Ever since Ellen Tote can remember, she has dreamed of her mother slowly drowning. Now, with her own children all grown and her siblings long gone, Ellen journeys back to her childhood for answers. Piecing together her memories, she finally articulates a story so shattering, it had long been silenced by fear and shame. Both heartrending and life-affirming, this compelling portrait of a brave yet tragic woman celebrates the courage and endurance of the human spirit.
Review
Wendell Brock The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Grimsley's...richest and most satisfying work yet.
Review
Edward Howard The New York Times Book Review Powerful and painfully detailed.
Review
Francine Prose People Grimsley writes lucidly and well. There's a lyric intensity and a quiet authority in Ellen's narrative voice, and thoughtful consideration has been given to the question of how one makes peace with the griefs of the past.
Synopsis
Jim Grimsley returns to the Southern landscape evoked so powerfully in his previous award-winning novels,
Winter Birds and
Dream Boy, to tell an unforgettable story of a woman's search for the meaning of a dream that has haunted her throughout her life.
Ever since Ellen Tote can remember, she has dreamed of her mother slowly drowning. Now, with her own children all grown and her siblings long gone, Ellen journeys back to her childhood for answers. Piecing together her memories, she finally articulates a story so shattering, it had long been silenced by fear and shame. Both heartrending and life-affirming, this compelling portrait of a brave yet tragic woman celebrates the courage and endurance of the human spirit.
About the Author
Jim Grimsley is the author of two previous novels. Winter Birds, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, won the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His second novel, Dream Boy, was nominated for the Lambda Award for fiction and was awarded the GLBTF Book Award for fiction from the American Library Association. He is an award-winning playwright in residence at Atlanta's 7Stages Theater.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS The Low Grounds 1
The Dead Fox 11
Moss Pond 24
Learning About the Monster 36
Alma Laura 52
Uncle Cope 59
Uncle Cope Variations 76
Corrine 89
The Snake's Tooth 97
Joe Robbie 110
Holberta Winter 124
Mama Said 135
Aunt Addis 145
Nana Rose's Dreams 159
A Man's Mama 176
In the Present 183
Nora 223
My Drowning 245
Reading Group Guide
- Grimsley evokes a deep and vivid sense of poverty. What elements, details, and images does he use to create this feeling? Is there any beauty in the world that Grimsley has created?
- In My Drowning, Grimsley uses the voice of a woman. Why might he have made this choice? Is it important or inconsequential? What effect does choosing a women's voice have on the story? What difference, if any, would it have made if Grimsley had told the story through the eyes of a man?
- Memory plays an important role in My Drowning, What elements does Grimsley use to evoke memory, in particular Ellen's? On Nora's deathbed, Ellen remembers how she loved Nora as a little girl and says, "I understood what memory was for, then." What does she mean by this statement? What other purposes does memory serve in My Drowning? Is memory good thing, a bad thing, or an indifferent thing? Why?
- In My Drowning, Grimsley makes many references to water. What are some of them? What does water symbolize in the book? How does it relate to the themes of poverty, deprivation, growth, and nurturing embodied in this work? Grimsley also describes many rituals connected with water, such as bathing or boiling, even cleaning. Why does he do this?
- As well, Grimsley uses many similes, in describing his characters: he was "thin as a rake, but strong as wire," she was "quiet like an egg,....Mama blew out breath Eke a bellow," he "threw her across the room like a sack of sugar,...he sleeps in my kitchen like a white worm." What do these similes have in common? Why does Grimsley choose to relate people to daily items and animals? How does it relate to the larger themes of the novel?
- Death is a constant presence in My Drowning. What role does death play in the lives of Grimsley's characters? Is it an important event or is it insignificant? What is the effect of Alma Laura's death, of Nana Rose's death, and of Joe Robbies death on Ellen's life? Are the effects different or the same? Are there any other characters affected by death? If so, who?
- In My Drowning, there are many references made to a monster that lives in the town. "One day a monster appeared in the woods...and the rumor drew visitors...from as far away as Kingston." What is the monster, and what does it represent? What function does it serve? How does it draw the community and the generations together? How does it tear them apart?
- In the novel, Ellen remembers, "Carl Jr. and Daddy laid out under the tree drinking while the rest of us did laundry in the yard." And when she is growing up, her friend June Frances says, "I don't see why we have to wait on them (her brother and father) all the time." Why do they? What roles do the men and women play in the world of My Drowning? Why is their world set up this way? Do their worlds ever meet? If where?
- In the novel, Ellen's father tyrannizes her, her mother, and her sister. He hits her mother and humiliates her in front of others. He is also lazy and doesn't work. Why does her mother put up with him? Why don't the women stand up to the father? When Ellen's mother finds out that he may be going to jail, she says, "I won't have anybody." What does her mother fear losing?
- Asa grown woman, Ellen hates the sight of flower petals decaying on the ground underneath blooming flowers. As a young girl, Nora cannot bear to see deformed beans, nor can Ellen now as a grown woman. Why might this be so, particularly in light of their childhood? What do the decaying flower petals and deformed beans represent to them?
- When Nora is on her death bed, she remembers the blue-flowered dress that she loved as a child. Why is it significant? Why might she remember this at this particular time? Why did Nora want to ruin the dress rather than hand it down? For what is the dress a metaphor? Are there any other such metaphors in My Drowning?.
- When Ellen's mother fights with her father about whether he was with Cope when Cope was arrested, she glares at Ellen and calls her a little strumpet. When Ellen tries to sneak out of the room, she doesn't want her to and kicks her. Why does she want Ellen to stay in the room and why does Ellen wish to leave? What do Ellen's fear and cowering bring up in her mother? Why does her mother react so strongly? Why does she use the word "strumpet," a word with a sexual connotation and not another word such as idiot or coward?
- Ellen loved her sister Alma Laura. She feels warmed when she sees her suckle on her mother's breast. But when her brother Madson and her sister Corine are born she cannot relate to either of them. She even hates them. Why can she relate to Alma Laura and not to Corine nor Madson? How does this affect all their lives? What role does the dead Alma Laura play in Ellen's life?
- In My Drowning, one sees the many deleterious effects of poverty. Does Grimsley show us any benefits whatsoever in being poor? Is there anything redeeming in Ellen's childhood? What, if anything, did her mother and father give her? What did "God" give her? Do any of Grimsley's characters get what they want?
- The title "My Drowning" refers to Ellen's dream of her mother drowning. To what else might the title be referring? When Otis is dying, he tells Ellen the story of how her mother wanted to drown her as a child. Is the 'real" story more meaningful than the power of Ellen's dream? Does knowing the "truth" make any difference to Ellen's life or is the power of memory more important? Do we as readers understand anything more about Ellen's life once we know the "real" story? If so, what do we understand? What, for Grimsley, do you think is more important: truth, or dreams and memory, and why?