The Gospel Truth

by Caroline Pignat

  But don’t worry. I’ve been on a few myself

  and they haven’t caught me yet.”

  I realize what he done for us;

  what Birdman risk,

  what Boatman risk,

  for strangers.

  Birdman give us a shove into the deeper waters.

  My heart pounds in my chest.

  I don’t know how to swim.

  I don’t know where to run.

  I don’t know if I can do this.

  “A friend of a friend sent me,” Birdman say as we pull away.

  “That’s the password.

  It’s a long road to freedom

  but you’ve got friends to help you,

  and the courage to make it,

  step by step.”

  We drift ahead into the dark unknown,

  as Birdman disappear into the shadows behind,

  and I think

  maybe the world outside Whitehaven

  ain’t so scary.

  Not if there’s more people like Birdman in it.

  according to Phoebe

  C o u r a g e

  It takes courage

  to be what the good Lord made you,

  when everyone else

  trying to make you something you ain’t.

  It takes courage

  to see truths

  that we’d rather not.

  It takes courage

  to speak up

  when the way things is,

  ain’t the way they should be.

  It takes courage

  to go beyond what you know

  to the places you don’t.

  But you can get there—the promised land.

  We all will.

  Alls we need is the courage

  to take one step at a time.

  And that’s the gospel truth.

  A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s :

  Thanks so much to:

  Peter Carver for giving me the freedom to find this story and the courage to tell it. Your mentorship has helped me find my voice and follow my dream.

  Richard Dionne and the Red Deer team for your continuous support and hard work.

  Marie Campbell for your steadfast support and encouragement, particularly when I needed it most.

  A heartfelt thanks to:

  Alan Cranny for capturing the spirit of the novel in the cover art.

  Kerri Chartrand, Tony Pignat, Fiona Jackson, Alan Cranny, and Peggy Cranny for reading draft after draft.

  Tony, Liam, and Marion for all you do and all you are. May you always have wisdom to know your truth and the courage to speak it.

  Photo credit: Tony Pignat

  I n t e r v i e w w i t h

  C a r o l i n e P i g n a t

  What drew you to this time and place?

  This was supposed to be the fourth and final book in the Greener Grass series—Annie’s story. As I was researching her time period, I learned about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. By the 1850s, slavery had been a part of life in the southern United States for over 200 years. It was simply the way of things, passed on from one generation to the next. Slaves were bought and bred to work the land (usually cotton, sugar, or tobacco crops) and serve the master. They had no rights or freedoms. In fact, in most southern states, anyone caught teaching a slave to read would be fined, imprisoned, or whipped.

  For as long as there has been slavery, there have been those who tried to escape from it. But those numbers increased with The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 [enacted by the U.S. Congress], which stated that any runaway slaves must be returned to their masters and that anyone who helped the fugitives would also be punished. This law stated that anyone in the United States who helped runaway slaves escape could be fined or arrested. It also gave the U.S. federal marshal the power to deputize and enlist whomever he wanted, to assist in the capture of fugitive slaves (whether they wanted to help or not.) The Fugitive Slave Act meant there was no safe place for fugitive slaves to live in the United States, and there are instances of free men being caught and returned south. It’s not surprising so many people looked north to Canada for equality and freedom. In fact, just one month after that law was passed, over 3,000 African-Americans made their way to Canada, and between 1840 and 1860 more than 30,000 American slaves came to Canada.

  I started to write the story from Annie’s point of view—maybe she was an abolitionist or maybe she worked for one. But as I learned more, I became intrigued by the injustice of slavery and especially by the courage it would have taken a slave to even think of running away from all he or she knows. That’s when I started to write in Phoebe’s voice and when I realized this was her story, not Annie’s.

  What gave you the confidence to write in this voice?

  Who am I to write this story? Good question. In writing Greener Grass, I had roots and relatives. I was an Irish immigrant. I felt some ownership of the story I told. Some right to that voice—my main character did, after all, sound just like my Granny.

  But I hesitated when the idea for The Gospel Truth became clearer. After all, who am I—a white, suburban, middle-class mom—to write this story?

  Was it even mine to tell?

  Unlike my other novels, this was not my journey, not my heritage, not my voice—and yet it fascinated me. I’ll do the research, I told myself, and see. I soon realized this journey wasn’t about telling a story as much as it was about listening to others’.

  How did you develop such an authentic voice for these characters?

  I listened to them. If you want to understand anyone, past or present, you’ve got to be willing to listen to their stories.

  In any research, primary sources are key. Imagine being able to hear what it was really like from someone who has been there. Sometimes you can find those voices in old newspaper articles, letters, or journals. But since it was considered unnecessary and often illegal for slaves to read or write (in fact, you could get charged for teaching them) I wondered if first hand accounts might be difficult to find.

  Thankfully, The Library of Congress has a collection of over 2,000 interviews with former slaves that are transcribed as spoken. Here’s one example:

  None of us was ’lowed to see a book or try to learn. Dey say we git smarter den dey was if we learn anything, but we slips around and gits hold of dat Webster’s old blue black speller and we hides it ‘til way in de night and den we lights a little pine torch and studies dat spellin’ book. We learn it too.

  —Jenny Proctor, Unchained Memories

  Unchained Memories is a book/DVD that shares photos and excerpts from those narratives that gave vivid details about slave life. It felt like I was interviewing hundreds of former slaves.

  I also read sources like Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada by Benjamin Drew and autobiographies like Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrop and The Life of Josiah Henson by Josiah Henson. It fascinated me to see their world through their eyes.

  All of these testimonies were so compelling and I realized that though each individual experienced slavery, their stories and worldview differed. That was why even brothers like Shad and Will don’t see things the same. It was why some slaves ran and others stayed. All of that primary source material was integral to developing a vivid and varied sense of voice.

  Why is it important to tell this story today?

  Narratives, biographies, abolitionists’ writings, and research of that time and place, helped me imagine what it must be like to walk in their shoes, to see their world, their truths through their eyes. We start to understand and even relate—and empathy grows.

  From time to time, we need to quiet that familiar voice of our own so we can hear the truth of another’s. We need to see things from new perspectives to better inform our own. I will never claim to have a right to this story, but I do have a duty to it. We all do. To listen. To learn. To see and to share.

  Imagine what life would have been like back then if they
approached each other with that same empathy.

  Imagine what it would be like today if we all did.

  Some would say that writing a story about escaping slaves runs the danger of focusing on African Americans as victims—a common enough portrayal. In what way do you think Phoebe, Bea, Will and other slaves are not victims?

  To me, victims are “defeated.” As a result of all they’ve suffered, they’ve succumbed and given up hope. What moved me the most in my research was the strength and resilience of the human spirit. Despite unspeakable injustices and suffering, so many of those voices spoke with unwavering hope. Like many slaves, Phoebe, Bea, and Will were scarred inside and out, but they held on to their hopes and dreams. Even when their world, their master, and the law told them otherwise, they believed in what they knew to be true.

  One of the main characters in the story is Dr. Bergman—who is based on a real historical figure, Dr. Alexander Ross, a Canadian. Why is Dr. Ross such an important figure in the history of the Underground Railroad?

  The Underground Railroad was a complex network of people, men and women, black and white, American and Canadian who worked together to help slaves escape to freedom. It was “underground” because their actions were considered illegal in the South; they were “stealing property,” after all.

  Dr. Alexander Milton Ross, a Canadian abolitionist, posed as an ornithologist while visiting Southern plantations. Under the guise of birdwatching, “the Birdman” secretly met with enslaved people and give them information and a few supplies to help them start their journey. In his Underground Railroad role as “ticket agent,” he’d make arrangements for them to meet “conductors,” people who, like Harriet Tubman, played key roles in helping fugitive slaves move from one “station” or safe house to the next. It was dangerous work for all involved. Dr. Ross had several warrants for his arrest and generous rewards were offered to anyone who might turn him in.

  Phoebe’s mother tells her about the birds in her world. How much research did you have to do on birds and bird calls as you were writing this story?

  When I was nine, I started at a new school in a new country (my family had moved from Canada to Ireland). I missed my old home, the life I’d left and especially my friends. I remember it being a tough transition for me and a very lonely time. Sister Killian, my Grade 3 teacher at my new school, was an avid birdwatcher and her enthusiasm for it was contagious. Thanks to her, I too became as passionate and though I knew nothing about the names or species, watching flocks swoop, gulls soar, or finding an old nest brought me such joy. It still does. Today, a favorite place of mine is a nearby nature trail where, if you’re quiet enough and still enough, the chickadees perch on your pinky and eat seed from your outstretched hand. It amazes me every time.

  For the novel, I did research about the birds of Virginia, nesting habits, bird calls—and I read a fascinating book called What the Robin Knows by Jon Young that looks at the secret language of nature conveyed through bird behavior and vocalization. Like me, Phoebe might not know the birds’ scientific names or species—but she knew their secret language. She learned from their wisdom. I think we all do, if we are still enough to listen.

  Some see the writer as someone who likes to explore and capture the themes and characters and events that come out of her own experience. But you have gone beyond your comfort zone with this story. What were the rewards for you in doing that?

  Writing this novel was an unnerving experience for a lot of reasons. First of all, as I mentioned earlier, the voice was completely new.

  Secondly, there was the unusual form. Writing in first person is like being inside your character’s head—and writing in free verse is like being inside your character’s heart. It’s powerful, raw, and resonates when done well. I knew when I wrote the poems in Egghead that someday I wanted to try a whole novel in free verse, but the process really surprised me. Actually, for a control freak like me, it was terrifying. Instead of moving from one plot point to the next, like the highly structured dot-to-dot plotting of my other novels, free verse is messy, organic, and at times, uncontrollable. It’s like the fingerpainting or the watercolors of writing. It pushed me outside the lines, way outside my comfort zone, and forced me to let go. Just play, just create, it said, and see what happens. Yes, it was terrifying and exhilarating, but I think we end up with the most spontaneous, vibrant, and completely unique pieces of art that way.

  The third risky move was to attempt to write a free verse novel in six voices. I needed to know each of the six characters as well as I knew Phoebe. Also, each voice needed to be unique and consistent and, in terms of plot, I needed to ensure I wove the six threads logically. Who was the best person to witness and tell that particular part of the story?

  The reward of going beyond what is safe and familiar, as scary as that may be, is discovering new worlds and perspectives. Phoebe learns that in this novel—and so did I.

  Most of the books you have written are historical novels. What is it about this genre that interests you and that you think interests young readers?

  I’ve always loved reading historical fiction and writing it is even more intriguing. Not only do the characters deal with the struggles we all have in everyday life, but on top of that they are caught up in an incredible moment in history. Famine and fever. Shipwrecks or slavery. Each historical event provides huge external conflicts that stir up great inner turmoil. In that way, the history not only determines the setting and enriches the plot, it also shapes the characters.

  When my students tell me they don’t like reading, I say that’s like saying you don’t like eating. We are wired for story. We need it, just like food. The trick is to keep sampling until you find your favorite because without it, your soul would certainly starve.

  In the end, everyone loves a great story—and history is loaded with them.

  Thank you, Caroline, for your thoughtful insights into the life of a writer.

  Copyright © 2014 by Caroline Pignat

  Published in Canada by Red Deer Press, 195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8

  Published in the United States by Red Deer Press, 311 Washington Street, Brighton, Massachusetts 02135

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews and articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Red Deer Press, 195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8.

  www.reddeerpress.com

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  Red Deer Press acknowledges with thanks the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Pignat, Caroline, author

  The gospel truth / Caroline Pignat.

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-0-88995-493-9 (pbk.).--978-1-55244-362-0 (epub)

  1. Underground Railroad--Juvenile fiction. I. Title.

  PS8631.I4777G67 2014 jC813’.6 C2014-904728-2

  C2014-904729-0

  Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data (U.S.)

  Pignat, Caroline.

  The gospel truth / Caroline Pignat.

  [328] pages : cm.

  Summary: Phoebe is a 16 year old slave girl living on a Virginia plantation in the 1850s, when the plantation is visited by an abolitionist who poses as a birdwatcher. This character is based on the real-life Alexander Milton Ross, a.k.a. the Birdman. Knowing the harsh realities of life on the plantation, Phoebe comes to realize that she has a chance to risk escape along the route of the Underground Railroad. Phoebe’s story is a compelling tribute to the hundreds of African Americans who made this journey.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-88995-493-9 (pbk.), 978-1-55244-362-0 (epub)

  Also published in electronic format
s.

  1. Child slaves – United States – Juvenile fiction. 2. Underground railroad – Juvenile fiction. 3. Slavery – United States – Juvenile fiction. 4. Ross, Alexander Milton, 1832-1897 – Juvenile fiction. I. Title.

  [Fic] dc23 PZ7.P4353Go 2014

  Edited for the Press by Peter Carver

  Cover design by Alan Cranny

  Cover image courtesy of Alan Cranny

  Text design by Daniel Choi