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Oh, September.
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Hello, friend!
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IT'S MY INTENTION to do a better job at staying in touch with you, my sweet friends, my book friends, my The Daily Grace tribe. Part of that commitment is sending this Grace Notes newsletter the first Thursday of each month. As I write this, I'll just come out and tell you it is already the first Friday of the month, and heaven only knows when I'll get this completed and whoosh sent to your inbox. Such is my life these days! There's the joy and the ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND details of planning, coordinating and executing a book tour; there's the travel; there's regular life which—at the moment—is fully comprised of helping look after precious Posey, our 16-month-old granddaughter who has yet another double ear infection (and two working parents).
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And so I'll keep this intro short.
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my pretty backyard studio
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We've made it to September! Even here in hot hot hot Columbia, SC, which my friend's daddy always said was built straight over hell!! You can feel the turning in the air, in the leaves, in the shadows that right there out my study window lay soft and breathy against the walls of the white studio/shed. You can feel the turning in the community calendars, in the sounds of college football, in the smiles of your neighbors as they walk their dogs or, sporting weighted vests, stretch their strides long in exercise. You can feel the turning in your heart, too—the slow move toward the dusty hues and warm spices and gentle afternoons of autumn.
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My heart is wishing for you a slow month filled with sweet joys and lazy days and and all those soft colors. And maybe…just maybe…a banjo tune or two.
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My debut novel has been in the world since early June, and what a thrilling summer it has been! Tim and I (and often our dog, Stella) have crisscrossed the Southern East Coast with stops in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. There's lots more still to come, and I'll highlight a few here!
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Monday, September 8 at 7 pm
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Fort Hill Book Club and Community Event
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Fort Hill Presbyterian Church in Clemson, SC
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All are welcome to join at this free, hybrid event! I'll be in conversation with Carolyn Newton, author of the historical fiction novel The Refugee's Daughter. Books will be available at the event; book signing to follow. The event is free and seat reservations are not required.
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Tuesday, September 16 at 5 pm
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I'll be in conversation with Michael Amos Cody, author of Streets of Nashville. Michael is a professor of English in the Department of Literature and Language at East Tennessee State University and a fine musician/songwriter. To my complete delight, Michael has put the lyrics to the ballad "War Song" (written by unwilling soldier Ben Grubb in That Which Binds Us) to music. "War Song" will be performed for the very first time at Johnson’s Literary Depot! 🪕 🪕 🪕
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Please reserve a free ticket here.
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(You can also add a copy of That Which Binds Us to your order, if you so choose!)
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Sunday, October 12 at 3 pm
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Wise County Famous Fall Fling Author Event
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in the Charles W. Harris Gallery at the Wise Library
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I'm headed back to my hometown for this joyful celebration! I'll be in conversation with my friend, the author and poet Rita Sims Quillen. Readings from my book will be performed by theater students from Union High School, and we'll be surrounded by the wonderful exhibit, THE WORK OF WOMEN, a collection of paintings, photography and textiles created by women of the area. The exhibit also honors Breast Cancer Awareness month.
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Thursday, October 16 at 6 pm
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I'll be in conversation with my pal Sally Jeter Gregg about all things That Which Binds Us. Then Sarah Tignor, director of The Johnson Collection, will offer a brief talk about renowned 19th century artist Robert Duncanson, whose painting “French Broad” is featured on the That Which Binds Us cover. Spartanburg native and designer/art director Ryon Edwards will then take the mic to discuss his process and considerations in collaborating with Turner Publishing to create my book's beautiful cover.
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Did you know there's a playlist I curated as I wrote That Which Binds Us? You can find it on Spotify! I also happen to think it's a great "September" playlist!
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Hamnet (in theaters Thanksgiving)
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Here I am, sharing about a film I might not even be able to see as having read the magnificent novel by Maggie O'Farrell, and having watched this gorgeous preview, I can already tell it just might be too much for me. Still I can't wait for the film to be available; I know it will be a work of art. You can watch the trailer here.
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I've read three books lately that were so good, so UP MY ALLEY, I have to share.
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The Blue Hour, by Paula Hawkins
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I love a gothic novel, or a novel with gothic undertones. I love a novel of isolation. I love a novel that involves the sea or an island or any situation where nature rules and the human inhabitants have to find a way to coexist/survive. I also happen to love a novel about art and/or artists. I read The Blue Hour on audio and highly recommend. The narration is wonderful and the accents add so much!
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Welcome to Eris: an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day.
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Once home to Vanessa: A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.
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Now home to Grace: A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.
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But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.
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And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge....
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A masterful novel that is as page-turning as it is unsettling, The Blue Hour recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Hawkins’s place among the very best of our most nuanced and stylish storytellers.
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Isola, by Allegra Goodman
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(See all my comments above re: isolation, the sea, historic—16th century in this case—and add in "unwanted adventure." I devoured this one.)
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A child of privilege is orphaned and her fate is left in the hands of an "enigmatic and volatile" guardian (who loses her fortune); as she comes of age, she is forced on a long journey of faith and discovery. Goodman is so good at giving readers the quiet joy of that wonderful question: What would I do? I listened on audio and Fiona Hardingham's gorgeous narration is perfection. Love, love, love!
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Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
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(Again, see my comments above. )
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This one I read in hardback, way back in April, and it certainly belongs in this lineup. It's been a wildly popular summer read and I can see why. I didn't find Wild Dark Shore to be a perfect novel (I'd love to have book club discussion about this one) but it did click a lot of boxes for me.
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A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.
But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late―and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.
A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.
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The other night we had dinner with the kids (by which I mean my grown daughter and her husband who have their own 16-month-old kid) and I made this Pesto Salmon. Eliza had the great idea to serve the salmon/roasted tomatoes (so juicy and good) alongside rice in a bowl, and I have to say: MMMmmm. We all ate every bite. Bonus? It's easy! Our basil has not done well this summer so I used a jar of store-bought pesto. Plus microwave rice! I'm just telling you. You'll put this one on rotation.
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ONE MORE BOOK THING. THIS JUST IN!
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That Which Binds Us is featured in this week's Southern Literary Review! I'm thrilled to have scored a review (and a positive one at that!) in this "Magazine for Literature of the American South." But reader, BEWARE. The review offers a complete summary of the novel's plot, so avoid reading unless you're okay with every spoiler. In the meantime, here's a lovely non-spoiler pull-quote, compliments of my publisher:
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"In an exploration of the influences that bind us to people and place, to conviction and dream, Cathy Rigg’s That Which Binds Us rings with intimacy and authenticity, deftly pulling a reader into a vivid nineteenth-century world. Artful prose carries the tale to a satisfying conclusion without compromising its blunt-force impact."
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—Southern Literary Review
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most recent post on THE DAILY GRACE
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Dreaming Big and Wild
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The natural world is always a source of great inspiration, and for me, that's never more true than when I am in the mountains. For my first post on The Daily Grace since becoming a real live published author (the thought still makes me giggle), I offer a meditation on dreams, mountains and creativity.
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NOW AVAILABLE
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