Reading/Discussion of Rising Fawn

Estelle Ford-Williamson, an award-winning novelist and memoirist and Pat Conroy Literary Center workshop leader, discusses her novel set in Atlanta and the rocky terrain of Lookout Mountain, GA. The main character, Clare, a successful life coach, finds herself on a remote mountain cliff after thieves hit her with financial fraud and her husband decides it too much for him and tells her to leave. Clare struggles with no cappuccino and no Internet, trying to get her footing among unusual characters and jaw-dropping natural beauty that a new companion shows her. The story travels into historical times on the mountain when coal mining was underway to help bring the South into the 19th century and the lives of newcomers were threatened by racial/religious prejudice. Praised by many well-known writers, the story dips into family estrangement, young couple problems, environmental threats, and the healing power of nature. And there's a Beaufort County…