FIVE STAR REVIEW
*****
The Persecution of Mildred
Dunlap is a
book that deserves much more that the five stars a reviewer is limited to give.
In the acknowledgements Paulette Mahurin captures the reader and sets the tone
with this thought provoking statement:
“…those silent voices that have perished at the hands of hatred, I am
grateful for your lives. I have to wonder if I heard your agonized whispers in
the middle of the night. Wake me up you did, to what it is to suffer at the hand
of prejudice over the color of your skin, the legacy of your genetic heritage,
your sexual preference, and in many, your authentic selves that dared to differ
from the norm.”
It is
with such easy flowing and powerful language that the author takes the reader
through this intricate tale. Taking enormous events in global history and
simplifying them to a small town perspective in 1895 Nevada. She does this with
effortlessness and straightforwardness. Enticing the reader with the town’s
gossip, giving every character and word a perfect place, taking the reader
through a wide array of emotions.
As a
huge fan of Oscar Wilde’s work I also enjoyed her choice of his quotes at the
start of each chapter.
The Persecution of Mildred
Dunlap is far
more than the story of a forbidden love between two women. It is the story of
the sad reality of all forms of prejudice as well as the wonderful potential
for acceptance and understanding.
M.C.V. Egan
About the book...
THE PERSECUTION OF MILDRED DUNLAP is A
women's Brokeback Mountain. The year was filled with memorable historical
events: the Dreyfus Affair divided France; Booker T. Washington gave his
Atlanta 
address; the United States expanded the effects of the Monroe Doctrine
in South America; and Oscar Wilde was tried and convicted for gross indecency
under Britain's recently passed law that made sex between males a criminal
offense. When news of Wilde's conviction went out over telegraphs worldwide, it
threw a small Nevada town into chaos. This is the story of what happened when
the lives of its citizens were impacted the Wilde news. It is a chronicle of
hatred and prejudice with all its unintended and devastating consequences, and
how love and friendship bring strength and healing.
All
profits are going to SantaPaula Animal Rescue Center in Ventura County, CA. (the
first and only no-kill animal shelter in Ventura County). For more info contact
the author through Facebook. Buy a book; save a life.
About Paulette ....
Paulette
Mahurin, an award winning author, is a Nurse Practitioner who lives in Ojai,
California with her husband Terry and their two dogs, Max, and Bella. She
practices women's health in a rural clinic and writes in her spare time. All profits from her book are going to Santa
Paula Animal Rescue Center, the first and only no-kill shelter in Ventura
County, CA.
Visit a chat I had with Paulette @ The Bridge of Deaths BLOG
From
the time I was ten year old, I've loved to write. While in college I wrote two
award winning short stories. This encouraged me to continue to write, and write
I did but never completed any of my novels due to other responsibilities:
education, jobs, family, etc. After attending and receiving a Master's Degree
in the Nurse Practitioner Program at UCLA, I went to work in the second busiest
emergency room in Los Angeles County. I saw and learned about things that
haunted me, until bit by a tick and diagnosed with Lyme Disease (which went to
my heart valves, brain, and muscular skeletal system) knocked me down and
afforded me time to write and release the memories onto pages before me. I
wrote, and wrote, and released what was stored inside, which finally gave way
to a story that was to change my life, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap.
When I
began to feel better, I joined a writing class, in Ojai, CA, where I live. The
teacher, Deb Norton (screenwriter/play writer of The Whole Banana) had us do an
exercise involving a photo. We were to write a 10 minute mystery. The photo I
picked was of two women huddled close together in clothing that looked circa
turn of the twentieth century. I made them a Lesbian couple trying to avoid
being found out.
In my
research, I came across Oscar Wilde's imprisonment. Britain had recently
changed its laws to make homosexual activity, a man having sex with another
man, a criminal offense resulting in a two year hard labor prison sentence. The
combination of the photo from that writing class and Oscar Wilde's imprisonment
were the seeds that started the story, six years in the making. For those six
years, I studied Wilde, the history of Lesbians, western settlement in the
United States, and I opened to what it must have been like to live in fear of
being persecuted because of the nature of one's existence, that can no more be
changed than the color of grass. As I wrote, I saw myself in the characters who
I dialogued with, related with as if we were friends today, and in doing this I
learned that external factors may change (the environment, technology, family
relating, etc.) but the nature of the human condition and how we manifest
remains the same. There will always be stories to tell, to write, to read, to
appreciate, because we invest in literature from our humanness, our emotional
composition, and we relate to the imagery created with narrative and dialogue
that suit our preferences. We are drawn in, over and over and over again, to
similar story lines, themes, sequels, because of this human experience--that in
sitting down before a book or e-book, we are transcended out of our ordinary
lives to magical places that written words create, no matter how similar or
repetitive the story, because, after all, we are all living, breathing,
stories.
GOODREADS
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PRESS ARTICLE VC STAR Sept. 9, 2012 Sunday Life Section
A brilliant choice for Valentine's Day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for choosing this special book, real food for thought and so much life-like in every aspect mirrored in it.
Carmen Stefanescu
Carmen, It is so wonderful to see you here and thank you for this lovely comment. I love your book and this is indeed very special coming from you. Paulette
DeleteThank you, Catalina, for this wonderful opportunity to share a day of love with you and that you are featuring a story about unconditional love speaks volumes about your heart. This is a very special treat for me especially since you are an author whose work I deeply admire and a woman who selflessly helps others in so many ways. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Paulette
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