In her newest novel, “The Waters,” Bonnie Jo Campbell writes of an island in Michigan where women will face constant hardships against the people living in a nearby town. At 6:30 p.m. Jan. 10, in Morgenstern’s Bookstore and Café, Campbell answered questions about her book and signed copies for readers.
“The Waters,” is a fictional coming of age story about eleven-year-old Dorothy “Donkey” Zook, a young girl growing up in Whiteheart, Michigan on a fictional island in the Great Massasauga Swamp. A community of women also live on the island under constant threat from farmers in town trying to take their land. Abandoned on the island, Dorothy grew up in the wild, searching for truths about family with her math books and in the abundant lands of her island. Throughout the story, she continuously awaits the return of her mother.
RelatedCOLUMN: Golden Globes host Jo Koy proves the film industry is still not a “Barbie World”2023 was the year for women in entertainment, at least the most it could have been.
Campbell is the author of six books including “American Salvage,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2009.
During the event, Campbell reflected on all the conflicting character dynamics throughout the novel. While the women living on the island wanted to protect their land and their swamp, across the water, farmers in town wanted to clear the swamp for more farmland and drive them out of town. The women on the island are seen as vulnerable, compared to the farmers in town who are well-armed and hold all the power.
“There’s so much animosity and it’s very dangerous for these women,” she said.
One of the main talking points surrounding this book, from both her and the audience, was the theme of nature. On this point, Campbell told a story about when she was in elementary school. She encountered a massasauga rattlesnake, which is native to Michigan, where the novel takes place. Campbell explained that she had become fascinated by the rattlesnake and hadn’t seen one since until they filmed a trailer to introduce the narrative for the book in the swamps of Michigan.
In order for these descriptions of nature within the novel to be realistic, Campbell had to do a lot of research. She said she looked up many resources on the internet, going so far as researching which animals would be in a Michigan swamp during specific seasons.
“It’s not enough to be right, you have to make it real,” she said.
While answering questions from the audience, Campbell talked about capturing the realness of life when writing about a character put in difficult positions. She said she would often tweak the specific situation to make it harder on the character and challenge them, showing their true strengths, weaknesses and persona.
RelatedNightlife events to watch for in January Take time to see events happening at and around IU.
Throughout the evening, Campbell kept the audience engaged while talking about the different aspects of the book, such as nature and the different characters. The event organizer and general manager of Morgenstern’s Bookstore and Café, Jenna Bowman, said she was incredibly happy with the event she organized, noting how engaging Campbell was in the discussion.
“You never know how these events are going to go and she’s been an amazing author as far as keeping us engaged with the conversation,” she said.
At the end of the night, readers were given the chance to sit down with Campbell and purchase a signed copy of her newest book. One attendee, Jenny Hawke, shared the different aspects of Campbell’s writing that made it so enjoyable. Hawke said Campbell was able to portray empathy in her writing, which she believes all the best fiction stories do. She believed if everybody read more fiction, it would make them better people because it’s an imaginative world that feels more true and real.
Similar to “The Waters,” Campbell’s other books are often set in rural Michigan. Other books written by her include “Once upon a River,” about a young girl who travels by river to find her mother, and “Q Road,” which follows a town in Greenland Township, Michigan with an insight into modern rural America.
