| books
Overview
of The Spirit of Sweetgrass
Essie Mae Laveau Jenkins is
a 78-year-old sweetgrass basket weaver who sits on the side
of Hwy. 17 in the company of her dead husband, Daddy Jim.
Inspired by her Auntie Leona, Essie Mae finally discovers
her calling in life and weaves powerful “love baskets,”
praying fervently over them to affect the lives of those who
visit her roadside stand. When she’s faced with losing
her home, her stand, and being put into a nursing home, Daddy
Jim talks her into coming on up to Heaven to meet sweet Jesus,
something she’s always wanted to do. Once there, she
reunites with Gullahs and African ancestors; but soon, her
heavenly peace is disrupted. Now Essie Mae, who once felt
powerless and invisible, must find the strength within her
to keep her South Carolina family from falling apart.
The
origin of The Spirit of Sweetgrass
 Expecting
her second child, Coulter, Nicole was struck with the idea
for The Spirit of Sweetgrass while driving home past
the quaint roadside stands of Mount Pleasant sweetgrass basket
weavers. She recalls a sense of urgency to get it all down--she
found a scrap of paper and begin writing while driving. (Do
not attempt this at home.) After research (including
learning to weave at Boone Hall Plantation), the novel began
to take shape.
A month after beginning The Spirit of Sweetgrass,
Nicole went on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.
She tried to settle in to what might be a very long couple
of months. Nicole found she was unable to write, but she reveled
in the stories and loving care of a friend of the family,
a Lowcountry basket weaver. Just two weeks later, Coulter
was born, small but healthy. The circumstances of his birth
left Nicole awed and grateful for the blessings of a second
chance at life and a healthy child. She soon found the voice
of the weaver, Essie Mae, louder and more persistent than
ever. She recalls having to wake in the middle of the night
to put the story on paper--that of Heaven and family ties. |
