“Yes. I remember being on the left, about halfway down the reflecting pool. I was standing on the ledge of the pool, and my husband, Dix, had his arm around my waist to keep me from falling in. I looked down into the water, and I could see the reflection of all those people standing out in the August heat, cheering—”
“Could we take this little trip down memory lane later?” Conrad interrupted with a growl. “Maybe the two of you could go out for dinner this evening and catch up on old times.”
The judge slapped her hand down on the desk. “One more word out of you, Mr. Wainwright, and you’ll be having dinner from a tray slid through the bars of your cell.”
She turned back to Amethyst. “Obviously, your arrests will not be held against you when I render my judgment. The Civil Rights movement was an important cause in the history of this nation, and I applaud your participation in it. Dr. King’s speech, in fact, was the turning point in my decision to enter law school.” She turned and cast a withering glance in Conrad’s direction. “If you had been the loving, concerned son you paint yourself to be, you’d have known that your mother was in jail.”
“Yes, but—” Conrad stammered.
“Still,” Judge Dove went on, ignoring him, “my own mother is getting up in years. If she were your age, Miss Amethyst, I might not want her living alone, either.”
Amethyst closed her eyes and fought back tears. Her heart felt like a stone in her chest. She was going to lose Noble House. It didn’t matter if the judge put the proceeds from the sale in trust for her. She didn’t care about the money. She only wanted to live and die in the home where Pearl and Silas had lived, where she had loved and married two exceptional men, where her memories sustained her and her heritage surrounded her.
She heard a shuffling sound and opened her eyes to see Little Am leaning forward in her chair.
“Your Honor?”
The judge looked at Little Am. “Ah, yes, the granddaughter.”
“If I may, Your Honor,” Am said politely, “I’d like permission to say something.”
Conrad jumped to his feet. “No!”
Judge Dove shook her head and gritted her teeth. “I warned you, Mr. Wainwright. I’m fining you one thousand dollars for contempt.”
“A thousand dollars? But—”
“No buts. One question—answer it with a yes or no. Is this young woman your granddaughter?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Not exactly the teenage mutant you described.”
“No, Your Honor—I mean, yes, your honor. She, uh, doesn’t usually look like this. It’s an act, put on for your benefit.”
“Perhaps you could learn something from her, then, about putting on an act for my benefit. Being respectful might be a good place to start.”
Conrad shut his mouth and sat down.
“Now,” the judge went on, turning back to Little Am. “Let’s hear what you have to say.”
Am had thought this was a great idea when she came up with the plan. Now she wasn’t so sure. This Judge Dove was a powerful lady, and Am felt a little intimidated in her presence. Still, this was something she had to do—not just for Grandam, but for herself. It was probably impossible, this scheme she had come up with. Con and Mimsy would never go for it, not in a million years, and they were still her legal guardians. But Grandam had said something that had stuck with her, something that gave her the guts to go on.
I’m not doing this because it’s possible, she reminded herself, but because it’s right.
“Well?” Judge Dove prompted. “Let’s hear it, young woman.”
“I’m seventeen,” Am began haltingly. “A junior in high school. I turn eighteen in September. Ever since I was a little girl and my parents were killed in a car wreck, I’ve lived with Con and Mimsy. And they’ve been good to me, I guess. Mimsy smothers me a little, but that’s just her way.”
She turned and cast an apologetic glance in Mimsy’s direction. “Anyway, I appreciate all they’ve done for me, and I love them and all, but—”
The judge was leaning forward, listening intently. “Go on.”
“But I’d like to live with Grandam. My great-grandmother.” Am looked in Grandam’s direction. She was dabbing at her eyes, and Am wasn’t sure if Grandam was upset with her or happy about the suggestion.
She hurried on before she lost her nerve. “My great-grandmother didn’t know I was going to suggest this,” she said. “And Con and Mimsy may not be too happy about it. But what I’d like to do is move in with Grandam as soon as school is out. That’s only a couple of months away. I can finish my senior year in Cambridge, and then go to the university here. I’ll be in the house with Grandam, so Grandpa Con won’t have to worry—”
She paused and cut a glance at him. His face was red and his eyes were beginning to bug out. He looked as if he might bust an artery at any minute. “It would solve a lot of problems, wouldn’t it, Judge? Grandam wouldn’t have to live alone, and she wouldn’t have to give up her house, either.”
“I won’t have it!” Con sputtered. “I won’t have my own granddaughter turned against me.”
“I’ll be eighteen by the time school starts next fall,” Am said quietly. “I guess then I can make my own decisions—as long as Grandam wants me.”
Judge Dove’s expression softened, and she gazed at Am with wide, soulful eyes. “But what about your school? Your friends in Memphis? I don’t know many teenagers who would willingly transfer during their senior year.”
Am shrugged. “I guess I’m not like most teenagers.”
“No, I guess you’re not.” She turned to Mimsy and Con. “You, Mr. Wainwright, have made your position perfectly clear, so you keep your mouth shut. Mrs. Wainwright, do you want to add anything to this discussion?”
As usual, Mimsy had that deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face, but when she glanced at Con, it turned to a look of determination. “I love my granddaughter,” she whispered. “But I’m not so sure my husband has the right motives in all this. If Little Am wants to live with her great-grandmother and keep an eye on things, I won’t stand in her way.”
Way to go, Mimsy! Am thought to herself.
“Well,” Judge Dove declared briskly, “it seems as if a compromise has presented itself. Mr. Wainwright, your motion to have your mother declared incompetent and have yourself named as her power of attorney is denied, and you are ordered to pay court costs, as well as your thousand- dollar fine, to the bailiff on your way out. Miss Amethyst, is this agreement acceptable to you—to have your great-granddaughter come and live with you for the foreseeable future?”
Am turned toward her great-grandmother. Tears were streaming down Grandam’s cheeks, but she was smiling.
“It’s more than acceptable,” she said with a nod and a chuckle. “It’s cool. Way, way cool.”
Epilogue
March 2 , 2000
Am Carpenter stood leaning on the rail of the courting porch and watched the moonlight play against the leaves of the ancient magnolia tree.
“Tired, I bet,” her husband, John, whispered in her ear.
“Exhausted. We’ve had a lot to deal with these past few weeks.”
“You want to come in and change clothes?”
Am looked down at her black dress, now rumpled from the activities of the day. One rhinestone button, jerked loose by an infant hand, dangled by a slender thread.
“In a little while. I need a few minutes alone, I think.”
“I found this.” He reached over her shoulder and handed her a manila envelope. In the dim light she could make out her name, written on the front in a shaky hand.
“Where?”
“In the freezer, under some packages of fish. When Mimsy and I were putting away some of the casseroles.” He squeezed her shoulder. “She and Con are staying overnight. They’ve already gone to bed. I’ll be inside if you need me.”
She felt his lips kiss the back of her neck, and heard the screen door shut behind him. Bracing
one hip against the porch rail, she opened the envelope. But she already knew what she would find. She had looked everywhere for it—everywhere except in the freezer, of course.
With trembling fingers, she slid out the contents: a single page of pale lavender paper and a battered velvet box.
The amethyst brooch.
In the moonlight, the deep purple of the heart-shaped stone looked almost black, and the pearls surrounding it took on an ethereal luminescence. She didn’t need to read the inscription on the back; she knew it by heart. Sincerity, Purity, Nobility.
She picked up the note and held it so that the moonlight spilled over the page.
My dearest child,
Forgive me for hiding this from you. I’ve never hidden anything else, but I didn’t want you to bury it with me. I was afraid you might try, and by that time I wouldn’t be able to argue with you any longer.
Unless you cook a lot of fish in the next few weeks, by the time you read this, I’ll be gone. Everything goes to you, of course—to you and that dear husband of yours, and that glorious, miraculous baby.
I won’t tell you not to grieve, for grieving is natural and healthy. But I will remind you that I’ve lived a full and blessed life, and these last years with you have been a gift greater than any I ever could have imagined.
And I couldn’t imagine, either, what a strong, generous, godly woman you would grow to become. You’ve always made me proud. Just remember that you have the Noble blood running in your veins, and a legacy from your spiritual and physical ancestors. Pearl and Silas, Booker and Enoch, Silvie and Bailey Blue, Harper and Dix. And myself, of course, for what one old woman’s history is worth.
Spend freely on those around you—the love, the commitment, the passion, the faith. Give everything willingly, from the deepest resources of your soul. You will find your own way, I have no doubt. And all of us will be cheering you on.
I love you—
Grandam
Am swallowed hard and managed a smile. One’s going out, while another’s coming in, she thought. Barely two weeks shy of her hundredth birthday, Amethyst Noble had gone to sleep, and sometime during the night had slipped silently, without fanfare, into the next world. But she had lived long enough to hold her great-great-grandson in her arms.
Am went to the screen door and peered in. “John,” she called, “would you bring the baby and come out here for a minute?”
After a moment her husband appeared at the door with the sleeping infant in his arms. “He’s so beautiful,” John said as he joined her on the porch. “Do you think I’ll ever get over being amazed every time I look at him?”
“I hope not.” Am took the child and cuddled him next to her breast. He stirred, but did not awaken. “There’s something we need to do.”
John nodded, and together they went to the porch railing, where a ray of moonlight pierced the thick branches of the tree. Am pinned the heart-shaped brooch onto the baby blanket and lifted the child toward the light, high over her head in the manner of the slaves. “We commit this child to the Almighty,” she whispered, “and name him Silas Noble Carpenter.”
Her husband’s low voice joined her as she continued the prayer they both knew so well. “May he draw from his heritage the faith and love of his ancestors, and may he live a life worthy of his name and his calling.”
Despite the chill of the spring night, a sudden warmth spread across Am’s shoulders. A familiar touch, delicate and comforting. But when she turned to look behind her, no one was there. John was standing at her side, his elbows resting on the porch rail.
Am lowered the baby into her arms and gazed at him as he slept on. The moonlight shifted, and as she watched, the amethyst brooch seemed to come alive, pulsing in rhythm with the infant’s deep, even breathing.
“Live, little Silas,” she murmured. “Live under the blessing of your heritage. Find your way to truth, no matter what it takes.”
And the amethyst heart winked back, as if in silent benediction.
Book Group Discussion Guide
1. This novel begins in the present and then employs the narrator’s flash-backs to relate the Noble family’s history. What do you know about your ancestors—their families, faith, daily life? If you had the chance, what would you ask your great-grandparents, and how could their stories help you live your life today?
2. In the first chapters, we see an alienated, frustrated teenager in Little Am, who hides behind her “ghoulish” attire and indifferent attitude. Over the course of a few days spent alone with her great-grandmother, Little Am sheds her protective armor to reveal the lively, engaging young woman beneath the dark clothes and the sullen expression. What factors brought about such dramatic change? Has something like this happened to you or someone you know? What can the oldest and the youngest members of your family (neighborhood, church) contribute to each other’s lives? Discuss ways you can help nurture good cross-generational relationships.
3. What is the significance of the amethyst brooch? What if it had been a ruby pendant, a string of pearls, or a diamond ring?
4. Discuss the real family heirloom at the core of The Amethyst Heart.
5. There are several romantic subplots woven throughout this story. Which one appealed to you the most and why?
6. Though World War II (1939-1945) is more familiar to most of us, it was World War I (1914-1918) that set the tone for what one writer has called “this terrible century.” Horrific new modes of combat (chemical weapons, air attack, trench warfare) resulted in unprecedented casualties. Many soldiers who survived the war returned home scarred beyond recognition—some with missing limbs, some wearing masks to hide freakishly disfigured faces. In The Amethyst Heart, battle-scarred veteran Harper Wainwright is called “freak” by town boys, turned down for jobs, and is rejected by his girlfriend. Yet Amethyst Noble falls in love with him. Why do you think she is able to look past Harper’s deformities? What is it about his character that makes him a heroic figure in this story?
7. The fictional setting of Cambridge, Mississippi bears a resemblance to the real-life town of Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi. In 1963, James Meredith became the first African-American student to attend classes at the school, but that historic enrollment was marred by violence when an angry crowd of white segregationists (including students) confronted National Guard troops called out by then-President John F. Kennedy. Against this backdrop of 19th century disharmony, the black-white relationships in Amethyst Heart’s Cambridge present a striking foil. How does this anomalous situation help us to view the present with hope?
8. In the chapter called “The Offering” we are privy to the inner thoughts of Amethyst Noble in September, 1946, as she takes part in the first racially-integrated service at Dix Godwin’s church. Thinking back on her family history and recent events in her own life, she ties her thoughts together in this sentence: “Everything fit.” Does “everything fit” in your own story? If not, how can you learn to see patterns of God’s design in the “winding roads and intersection of lives” in your own family history?
9. Is Amethyst Noble the hero of this story? If so, what are her most admirable qualities and how did she acquire them? Who else can be considered a hero/heroine in The Amethyst Heart?
10. Why does Conrad fail to “come around” the way Little Am did? Does this less-than-happy ending for his story bother you, or is it satisfying? Why do you think he turned out the way he did, given his family heritage and good parenting? Do you think the author uses Conrad’s story to illustrate our fallen nature, or to show how a child can absorb negative influences despite the family’s best efforts? Does the author leave room for redemption in Conrad’s life, or is she content to leave those questions unsettled? How or why?
11. What does this book teach us about the value of remembering the past? Does it present that lesson forcefully or with finesse? What other lessons does it have for the reader? Are there any particular ways in which the story moves you to do something different
in your own life? Which character do you find most inspiring and why?
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