Weaving research and interview, memory and imagination,
Hudson’s tale is a spellbinding journey, an invitation
to deep mysteries that lurk in the history of America
and in ourselves.
There are times in everyone’s life when a good story is
what you need. A story full of hope and tragic endings,
speculation and drama, a story that binds you more
tightly to your life, your family, your hopes, when it
seems these things might spin out of reach. Or a story
that spins you into a new world before you have a chance
to take a breath and say, Stop. The summer of 1999 was
one of those times for me. And the story I found did
both – cleaved me more tightly to my life, and opened up
a world. –Marjorie Hudson
|
SEARCHING FOR VIRGINIA DARE
A Journey Into History, Memory, and the Fate of
America’s First English Child
by Marjorie Hudson |
INCLUDES READER’S CLUB GUIDE
 Publication Date: June 1, 2007
Paperback, 6x9, 184 pp.
Publisher: Press 53
ISBN: 978-0-9793049-6-5
Price: $16.00
|
|
|
News
New Edition Released Alongside 400th Anniversary at
Jamestown
LEWISVILLE, NC, MAY 15, 2007 – Press 53 will re-issue
Searching for Virginia Dare on June 1, 2007, to coincide
with the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the
English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
Press 53 picked up the publishing rights for a newly
revised edition of the book, which found wide readership
in North Carolina in its first edition (reviewed and
recommended in Our State, North Carolina Literary
Review, NC Libraries, and Tar Heel Junior Historian).
The book stirred national interest, including recent
selection by the “Reading on the Road” Traveling Book
Club, a program of Minnesota Women’s Press and its
national publication BookWomen.
Author Comments
I’m so excited and pleased about my new publisher, Press
53. Kevin Watson and Sheryl Monks have created a feisty
new literary press that is re-issuing North Carolina
classics (featuring the works of John Ehle, prizewinning
author of The Land-Breakers and other novels), and
publishing exciting new short story, poetry, and essay
collections from new and emerging writers. –MH
More News about Searching for Virginia Dare
This October, the
BookWomen Traveling Book Club will
tour the Outer Banks to read Searching for Virginia
Dare, alongside some other great books by women,
including Jan DeBlieu’s Hatteras Journal. This national
book club runs retreats for women who read books by
women – while vacationing in a spot related to the book
list. What a great idea! To register or for more
information, call or email: (651) 646-3968;
books@womenspress.com.
More news... |
 |
|
Reviews and Comment |
| “As fascinating as a detective story. . . . An
absorbing, intelligent consideration of national and
personal identity, beautifully written.”~ Lee Smith,
author of The Last Girls
“A fantastic weave of wit and
observation, of careful investigation and scrutiny of
sources, mingled with a personal narrative of a Yankee
come South… A tale of tragedy and human suffering,
perhaps laying bare the real beginnings of an American
culture and society which Americans have yet to fully
understand…”
~ John Godwin, The Peoples Civic Record
“Hudson does a wonderful job of turning what for most
has been a staid history lesson into an entertaining and
informative read.” ~George Olsen, “All Things
Considered,” Public Radio East“Hudson forges an engaging
blend of history, fiction, and memoir that commands the
reader’s interest.”
~ Kestal Phillips Jr., Our State:
Down Home in North Carolina
“[Hudson] set off on the cold
trail [of Virginia Dare] like a determined bloodhound .
. . and stirred up the ghosts of our first settlers,
four centuries old.”
~ Durham Herald-Sun“Marjorie Hudson
is to the Lost Colony what Annie Dillard is to the
natural world and Diane Ackerman is to the senses. . . .
The result is a great American story.”
~ Greg Rappleye,
author of A Path Between Houses, winner of the Brittingham Prize
“Hudson’s writing style is fluid and poetic…Those who
value the art of writing as well as substance will enjoy
this “fool’s errand.” The book is a good purchase for
large public libraries with North Carolina collections
and may be of interest to academic libraries in North
Carolina and surrounding states.”
~ Allan Scherlen, North Carolina Libraries |
|
|
|
More Reviews and Comment
|
“Marjorie Hudson has fashioned an intertwined tale of
obsession, loss, and hope—in part truth, myth, and
fiction. She has provided us not only history, but with
questions about ourselves and our relationships [with]
others. . . . She proves that a very talented writer can
pull off a multi-genre story.”
~ Clyde Edgerton, author of Walking Across Egypt and
Raney“It’s like a road trip with your best friend…[Hudson]
leads the reader to the bigger picture: what becomes of
us at the damning intersection of history and time. ”
~
Wendy Spitzer, Writers’ Network News
“Battered by life but strengthened by family, Marjorie
Hudson became the researcher and writer that fills these
pages with her vivid prose….Good book.”
-Ken Gruebel, New
Bern Sun Journal“An exhaustive examination of all of the Virginia Dare
stories that have arisen through the years.”
~Tar Heel Junior Historian
“Hudson has written the book I would have liked to have
written.”
~ Dr. E. Thomson Shields, Director, Roanoke Colonies
Research Office, in NC Literary Review“Hudson has invented a new genre, a sort of parting of
the authorial curtain to reveal . . . the commonalities
that bind both author and reader to someone of another
place and time”
~ Chapel Hill Herald |
|
|
|
What the bookstores are saying: |
“A fabulous read...this book should be on your shelves
this summer.”
~Keebe Fitch, McIntyre's Fine Books“An appealing and unusual combination of history,
speculation, and personal memoir.”
~City Lights Bookstore
“Hudson brings the colonists to life in a wise and
intelligent way.” ~Gee Gee Rosell, Buxton Books |
|
