M.E. Torrey - Author of "Fox Creek," a historical novel exploring slavery in the antebellum South

In this powerful 51-minute conversation, author M.E. Torrey discusses her critically acclaimed novel "Fox Creek," which confronts the whitewashed narratives of plantation history. Torrey shares her journey from writing children's books to tackling one of America's most difficult historical periods, and why honest conversations about race and history are more important than ever.

The Genesis of Fox Creek

• Torrey's eye-opening visit to Louisiana plantations in the 1990s
• Encountering tours that completely omitted slave narratives
• Three years of intensive research before writing the first sentence
• The challenge of finding authentic slave narratives vs. abundant plantation owner records

Research Revelations

• The shocking diaries of James Henry Hammond (Governor of South Carolina) and Bennett Barrow
• How "ordinary people" justified extraordinary harm
• The concept of willful blindness among slave owners who considered themselves good people
• The FDR Writers Project interviews with ex-slaves from the 1930s

Writing Approach

• Deliberately avoiding author judgment to create moral complexity
• Using "silence" as a literary device, especially for enslaved characters
• Crossing white and Black narratives to tell a complete story
• The most difficult scene to write: sexual abuse

Contemporary Relevance

• Why white people need to see themselves in slave owner characters
• The importance of owning history without guilt or defensiveness
• How forgiveness and love are essential to healing
• The loss of community in modern America
• Parallels to current social justice movements

Personal Reflections

• Growing up in integrated military schools in Europe
• The bubble of racial harmony vs. American reality
• Transition from children's book author to adult historical fiction
• Redefining success from financial to relational and spiritual

"I would never have owned a slave" - white people do an injustice when they say this because they were ordinary people, and horrific things are happening even today by people because society says it's okay."

"I have never, to my knowledge, done any wrong to any human being in my life" - Governor James Henry Hammond, despite a diary full of documented abuses

"The lesson that we bring from the past is a lesson of forgiveness... this world will not get healed without being kind and loving one another."

• Title: Fox Creek
• Author: M.E. Torrey
• Awards: Multiple awards, starred review from Publishers Weekly
• Where to Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or support local bookstores at Bookshop.org
• Website: METorrey.com (T-O-R-R-E-Y)

• "Secret and Sacred" - Diaries of James Henry Hammond
• Bennett Barrow's plantation journal
• FDR Writers Project slave narratives
• St. Francisville, Louisiana (fictionalized as St. Marysville in the book)

• Purchase "Fox Creek" and engage with this important historical narrative
• Request the book at your local library using the ISBN
• Have honest conversations about race and history in your community
• Follow M.E. Torrey at METorrey.com

Episode SummaryKey Topics DiscussedPowerful QuotesBook InformationResources MentionedCall to ActionEpisode ThemesHistoricalFiction #Slavery #CivilRights #RaceRelations #AmericanHistory #SocialJustice #Forgiveness #Community #AuthorInterview #BookDiscussion