To Sara Bibb and Ingrid Schneider for terrific technical help in the midst of complete chaos. Your patience with me was beyond human, and for that I will always be grateful. And to Jeane Wynn, of Wynn-Wynn Media, for taking care of absolutely everything and topping it with a bow! You are delightful in every way, and it’s a pure pleasure to rest under your umbrella.
From the start, this book involved quite a bit of research. It all began with a single newspaper article printed in 1915 about a Romany queen who was buried in Meridian, Mississippi. Her name was Kelly (aka Callie) Mitchell, and the Meridian Dispatch reported an elaborate funeral much like the one described during the storyteller scene. I thank the Romany people for inspiring this novel and for letting your fascinating history weave its way through Millie’s life. I also thank Dr. Frank O. Clark (and Romany travelers who prefer to remain anonymous) for sharing factual information and answering questions about this fascinating culture.
Tremendous thanks to the City of Meridian, Mississippi, the Historic Preservation Commission, and the Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History. Many people in Meridian helped me with the research for this book, but special thanks are extended to Kathleen Coker, Leslie Joyner, Anne McKee, W. Walton Moore Jr., and Tommy and Martha Spears. Also thanks to Gary Hardin, Natural Resource Specialist, for taking time to make Mississippi waterways less murky for me.
To James Parrish and Eleanor Caldwell with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma for your time and assistance in translation. I am honored to claim Choctaw roots in my family tree, and I thank you for pointing me in the right direction as I longed to learn more about tribal customs.
Also, thanks to Dr. Volodymyr Samoylenko for correcting my rusty Russian over late-night karaoke.
To science librarian Buffy Choinski and director of the University of Mississippi Drug Information Center, Dr. Rachel Robinson, for answering last-minute questions that eased me through panic mode on deadline day. After weeks of searching all around the globe, I realized all the answers were mere footsteps away on the beautiful campus of Ole Miss where you and many of the world’s leading research scientists welcomed my inquiries with kindness.
For patiently answering endless questions about old trucks and tractors, I will always be in the debt of Gina and Ron Beltz, Dean Glorso, Louis Nash, and Jere Nash Jr. Your knowledge is impressive, and I thank you for giving me the details I needed to enter these scenes. Gina, you are such an amazing friend. There’s a big, warm spot in my heart just for you!
Thanks also to Susan and Pat Bradley not only for your friendship but also for connecting me with the Spears family in Meridian and for providing crucial historic details.
I also thank David Carter of Double C Ranch in Natchez, Mississippi, a horse whisperer like no other and a man with more character and faith than any I’ve ever known. I’m also proud to say he’s my dear cousin. Thanks, Dave.
Thanks also to Kathy Haynes and Sadie Paslay, two of the most sincere animal experts in the world, and two women I am truly blessed to call friends. For your knowledge and guidance about horses and rodeo, I thank you. For your friendship, I thank you even more.
As with all the facts in this book, any mistakes are mine and no reflection on the experts who so generously offered guidance throughout this process. I’ve learned a lot by writing this debut novel, but there will always be folks who know more. I welcome your comments and look forward to expanding my knowledge even after the book hits shelves.
Thanks to Gay Smith who offered a generous bid to have Mr. Tucker’s character named after her son, Cauy, during a charity benefit to the American Heart Association.
Of course, nothing in my life would mean a thing without my dear husband, Charles, and our two amazing children, Emily and Adam. While they are and always will be my absolute top priority, they selflessly gave me time to distance myself from reality just long enough to give Millie a voice. “THREE!” You are my everything, and I love you through and through.
Like most novels, this story has gone through numerous (um, let’s say millions of) drafts. At times it struggled to find its true identity and scrambled its way through awkward, ugly adolescent phases that left us all out of sync. For bearing with me through it all, I thank my friends and early readers, Marie Barnard, Alicia Bouldin, Claire Dobbs, Carol Langendoen, and Lindsey Jones. You saw this story at its worst and loved it anyway. Your gentle notes led me back in the right direction and gave me the fuel I needed to see it through to the end. And … you listened to me talk about this book for years. What good ears you have, my dears!
And then there was Katie Anderson, who Saved the Cat. The world may not know it yet … but I’m declaring to everyone: You are a wonderful writer. And you saved this book.
Somehow we survived those painful stages and the final story emerged, piece by piece, after falling into the nurturing arms of the incredible Mary Ann Bowen. A spunkier woman never there was, and I am privileged to have been granted the meticulous stroke of her pen. Thank you, Mrs. Bowen. You shine such a bright and beautiful light into this world.
As any believer in fairy tales knows, a knight in shining armor always swoops in at the end and saves the day. That would be my friend Patti O’Sullivan, who not only gave me tons of great advice but also helped me fall in love with my characters again. Writing a novel is work, a lot of work, but Patti reminded me that it’s also a lot of fun. Thank you, Patti!
Thanks also to Margaret Seicshnaydre. Margaret, you have an incredible knack for detail (which I lack). Thank you!
To Mom, you have read almost every draft of this book and I can’t imagine how exhausting that must have been. Yet you offered constant support and belief in me. Thank you for always letting me know I am loved and for giving me the confidence to see this through. You are nothing like Millie’s mother, and for that (and many, many other reasons), I love you and I thank you.
Dad, Cora, Josh, and Jessie. I love you all. To the Cantrell Clan and the Carter Crew, I love y’all, too! To Darlene Finch, we couldn’t have asked for a better NoNut. Thanks for always letting me know I mattered, Dordo!
To my getaway gals, Peggy Tubertini and Amber Reichley. Thanks for kidnapping me and forcing me to “Step Away from the Computer!”
To my Read Between the Wines book club, thanks for sharing laughs and literature with me over the years. Cheers!
To the delightful members of the three book groups across the country who volunteered to preview Into the Free. I cannot imagine launching this book without you, and each of you will always hold a special place in my soul for being there when my third “child” was born.
To Mary Beth Lagerborg, thank you for giving me my start. I’ll never forget a special phone call more than ten years ago that changed my life. You were the first person to call me a “writer,” for which you have my eternal and infinite gratitude. And to Beth Jusino, who gave me a job writing for MOMSense, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Beth, you were my first editor (a fantastic one, at that). I thank you for being not only my teacher but my friend. Also to Jackie Alvarez, Mary Darr, and all the folks at MOPS International for many years of fun and support and friendship.
To all the contributors and authors who have shared my love of literature at the Southern Literary Review. I learned something new from you every single day. Thank you.
To Jilleen Moore, a dear friend and soul-saver who brings joy to all who know her. I thank you, Jill, for wrapping your heart around me and my children. Also to Frances, Leita, Lisa, Lyn, Paul, Ramona, Richard, and the entire Square Books family for your tremendous support.
To Carroll Chiles Moore, I think you could run the world, sweet Carroll, and I thank you for always taking time for our friendship in the midst of your busy life.
To Sharon Andrews, Angela Atkins, Brandall Atkinson, Amy Beckham, Kim Cohen, Sarah Frances Hardy, Blair Hobbs, Mimi Lilly, and Leighton McCool, thanks for your friendship and advice. Just seeing your names together on the page makes me feel a surge of power. Superwom
en, all of you. I bow.
To Daniel and Allison Doyle, two of the most amazingly generous and grounded people on the planet, thanks for your humble spirits and happy smiles. No matter where you roam, always remember … my barn is your barn.
To Bob and Marie Barnard, two bubbly souls, thanks for a wonderful family friendship and for sharing your two minigeniuses with us. I bask in your brilliance and will forever savor the joy of a simple little crawfish question that finally elicited an “I don’t know.” Go figure.
To my coworkers, friends, and students in the Oxford School District, you bring me smiles every day. Thank you for allowing me to work with you and for giving me a job that is beyond rewarding. Also thanks to Neil White of the Nautilus Publishing Company, for freelance work and fatherly advice and for always knowing just what to say to pull me out of a funk. To Warren and Janice Black, Claire Dobbs, and the members of Oxford University United Methodist Church, thanks for giving us a warm and welcoming place to worship and a spiritual community for our children to develop their faith.
To my friends at the Oxford-Lafayette Literacy Council, thanks for all you do to share the written word with children in our community. You are changing lives, and I’m honored to play a small part in the work you do.
To all the accomplished writers (in Oxford and beyond) who didn’t turn me away when I reached out for answers and advice. You have inspired me to give this writing life a whirl. Thank you for lighting my path.
To my friends from all the places we’ve called home: Louisiana, Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Colorado. Thanks for keeping in touch and for making me feel welcome everywhere we’ve lived.
And finally, to the magical, marvelous state of Mississippi. I am lucky to have landed in the Yocona River Bottoms, fortunate to have developed Valley House Farm in your arms, and happy to listen to the songs of your trees. You have given me a place to plant my roots. Thank you.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acton, Thomas, and Gary Mundy, eds. Romani Culture and Gypsy Identity. Hertfordshire, UK: University of Hertfordshire Press, 1997.
Barry, John M. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. New York: Touchstone/Simon and Schuster, 1998.
Berridge, Virginia. Opium and the People. London: Free Association Books, 1999.
Booth, Martin. Opium: A History. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996.
Brown, Irving. Gypsy Fires in America: A Narrative of Life among the Romanies of the United States and Canada. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1924.
Burbick, Joan. Rodeo Queens and the American Dream. New York: PublicAffairs, 2002.
Cobb, James C. The Most Southern Place on Earth: The Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Davis, W. Marvin. Field Checklist of Birds of North Mississippi. University of Mississippi in conjunction with Partners in Flight—which includes Mississippi Ornithological Society; U.S. Corps of Engineers; Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries & Parks; U.S. Forest Service; and U.S. Department of Agriculture (based on data from late 1800s through 1993).
Dodge, Bertha S. Cotton: The Plant That Would Be King. Austin: University of Texas, 1984.
Royce, Edward. The Origins of Southern Sharecropping. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.
Fonseca, Isabel. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Fraser, Angus. The Gypsies. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1992.
Hancock, Ian F. We Are the Romani People. Vol. 28. Hertfordshire, UK: University of Hertfordshire Press, 2002.
Helferich, Gerard. High Cotton: Four Seasons in the Mississippi Delta. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2007.
Joyner, Leslie M. Romani Royalty at Rose Hill Cemetery: King Emil Mitchell, Queen Kelly Mitchell and Family. E-Book Item #394, Lauderdale County, MS. Archives and History, Inc., 2010.
King, Richard H. A Southern Renaissance: The Cultural Awakening of the American South, 1930–1955. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
LeCompte, Mary Lou. “Home on the Range: Women in Professional Rodeo, 1929–1947,” Journal of Sport History 17, Winter 1990: 327–28.
LeCompte, Mary Lou. Cowgirls of the Rodeo: Pioneer Professional Athletes. University of Illinois Press, 1999.
McAlexander, Hubert H. Strawberry Plains Audubon Center: Four Centuries of a Mississippi Landscape. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2008.
McDowell, Bart. Gypsies: Wanderers of the World. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1970.
McKee, Anne B. Historic Photos of Mississippi. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing Company, 2009.
Percy, William A. Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter’s Son. 1941. Reprint. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998.
Queen II, Edward L. In the South the Baptists Are the Center of Gravity: Southern Baptists and Social Change, 1930–1980. New York: Carlson Publishing, Inc., 1991.
Scott, Frederick Gilbert Laughton. The Morphine Habit and Its Painless Treatment. London: H. K. Lewis and Co., 1930.
Shank, Jack. Meridian: The Queen with a Past, Vol. 1. Meridian, MS: Brown Printing, 1995.
Tong, Diane. Gypsy Folktales. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.
Wilson, Charles Reagan, William Ferris, and Ann J. Adadie, eds. Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
Photo by Brandall Atkinson
A speech language pathologist and literacy advocate, Julie Cantrell was the editor-in-chief of the Southern Literary Review. She has served as a freelance writer for ten years and published two children’s books. Julie and her family live in Mississippi, where they operate Valley House Farm.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
AfterWords
A Note Regarding the Word Gypsy
Reader’s Guide
Additional Discussion Questions
Author Interview
Just for Book Clubs
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Into the Free Page 27