I thought about what it would be like for Lisbeth to dearly love Mattie and then be taught by society that she wasn't a full person. Then the image of Lisbeth, a white baby, breastfeeding in the loving arms of Mattie, an enslaved wetnurse came to me in a flash. It's a basic part of the attachment process.' You form your core identity in relationship to your primary caregivers.

I thought to myself, 'Of course he does, his mother is Asian. Someone mentioned that he identifies as much as an Asian person as an African-American person. The idea for the story came to me in 1998, I was with a group of people talking about Tiger Woods. I was surprised when the writing bug bit me. I'm very grateful to be a full time writer starting in 2015. Our young adult children are our pride and joy. I live in a small co-housing community in Berkeley, California, with my wonderful wife, Rinda and our beloved dog, Hazel. Spiritual themes that cross over multiple religious traditions come directly from working as the Director of Children and Family Ministries at the First Unitarian Church in Oakland. You can see that my birth experiences are reflected in my novels. There are scenes in Yellow Crocus that were largely influenced interactions I had with children from Woolsey.Īs a birth doula I had the privilege of witnessing the intensity and joy of childbirth. I was the founder and director of Woolsey Children's School where I had first hand experience loving children that were not my own. My passion for early childhood education, child birth and religious education are reflected in my writing. My education and experience in multiracial, developmental psychology and attachment theory provide ample fodder for my novels. For Jordan and Mattie, it’s time for liberation.Īs the Johnsons and Freedmans confront the injustice that binds them, as well as the bitterness and violence that seethes at its heart, the women must find the courage to free their families-and themselves-from the past. For Lisbeth, it’s a time for reconciliation. Jordan and Mattie return to Fair Oaks, too, to save the family they left behind, who still toil in oppression. There she must face the Confederate family she betrayed by marrying an abolitionist.

When Lisbeth discovers that her father is dying, she’s summoned back to the Virginia plantation where she grew up. Three years after the Civil War, Lisbeth and Mattie are tending their homes and families while Jordan, an aspiring suffragette, teaches at an integrated school. The women have an unlikely bond deeper than friendship. Jordan Freedman was born a slave to Mattie, Lisbeth’s beloved nurse. Lisbeth Johnson was born into privilege in the antebellum South. The bestselling author of Yellow Crocus returns with a haunting and tender story of three women returning to the plantation they once called home.

Yellow crocus book series