Hi, Tiffany here. I’m so glad to be able to dig deeper behind The Summer that Melted Everything. While TSTME is my first published novel, it’s actually my fifth or sixth novel written. I first wrote it six years ago during a hot Ohio summer. The novel takes place in Breathed, Ohio. The town will once again be the setting for my upcoming novel, BETTY, which is dedicated to my own mother Betty, and inspired by generations of my family.
BETTY is the first novel I wrote nearly twenty years ago and, among other things, BETTY channels my mother’s and Papaw’s experiences with racism. While my own skin is fair, my mother has brown skin, as did her father and his side of the family. Both of them faced racism in the predominately white communities they lived in. The character of Sal in TSTME gave me a chance to explore another side to my papaw’s and mother’s story.
I had hoped when I wrote TSTME that times would change for the better. In 2014, when I worked on this novel, Eric Garner was killed as his cries of “I can’t breathe” echoed across this country. When the offending officer was not indicted, we saw yet another instance of injustice within our society and another example of the systemic racism plaguing it. In TSTME, a horrific crime is committed against a young black boy. The reality is that rarely do these crimes go punished when they are committed against persons of color and justice is rarely served for the victim. I wanted my novel to reflect this injustice, but my hope was that progress would be made and stories like that in TSTME would be lessons of the past wrongs in our courts system. Now in 2020, we hear that familiar “I can’t breathe” cry, and our country is reminded of our failures.
With Sal’s story, I reflect back on my mother’s and my Papaw’s experiences. I remember those times my papaw was viciously beaten just because he was a different color. Those times he and my mother had racial slurs slung their way. Sal, for me, is a character who embodies those things I love about my papaw and mother. My papaw’s creativity, his storytelling, and his drive to be seen as equal in society. And in Sal, I see my mother’s kindness, her wisdom, her ability to survive. My mother’s and Papaw’s story will be explored deeper in BETTY, but I’m glad to have had TSTME published first. I think I’ll always be discovering my family’s story in one way or another in my work. I carry it with me. And in many ways, I carried it with me when writing TSTME.
Below, I look forward to exploring what’s behind these quotes from TSTME. I’m sure not all of my comments will answer your personal questions about the story. In that case, please feel free to drop me a note at my website www.tiffanymcdaniel.com. I welcome reader emails.
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