Zurenda to discuss lastest novel at CAC next week

Zurenda has been touring the Midwest on a publicity tour for her latest novel.

“I am thrilled to come to my hometown to discuss my new novel,” Zurenda said.

“The Girl from the Red Rose Motel” is her second novel. And like with her first book, “Bells for Eli,” Zurenda proves the power of love can overcome the most overwhelming circumstances.

Event organizer John Craig is looking forward to her visit.

“Susan Zurenda is a truly gifted writer, who always gets to the heart of the matter. As she did in ‘Bells for Eli,’ in ‘The Girl in the Red Rose Motel,’ Susan develops characters fully and lovingly, bringing home messages that are good for living life well,” he said. “We are proud to claim her as a Lancastrian, and it will be good to have her back with us on May 1 at the CAC.”

The book

Her second novel is a real page-turner with characters who will live on in one’s heart long after the last word is read. Zurenda addresses forbidden love, poverty, privilege and censorship. The story is set in Ramsey, a small South Carolina town, in 2012.

The protagonist is Hazel Smalls, a homeless, hardworking high school junior who falls in love with senior Sterling Lovell, who lives a life of privilege. Angela Wilmore is the teacher everyone wishes they had.

“A caring teacher can make all the difference,” Zurenda said. “I had several in my own life.”

Zurenda has very likely been that difference maker in the lives of young people. She taught college and advanced students in high school for 33 years.

Alternating chapters are told from the perspective of the three characters as they face their various challenges. Hazel lives in the Red Rose Motel with her little sister, unemployed father and overworked mother. Sterling lives a life of ease, but the memory of being a bullied overweight kid with big ears has left his empathy intact. Ms. Wilmore, a brave VW Beetle-driving English teacher, supports Hazel and Sterling and takes on the loud-mouthed preacher who protests her teaching a Margaret Atwood short story.

Zurenda shows how people from different backgrounds have much to learn from and about one another.

“They show us the power of kindness and connection in the human condition,” she said. “They demonstrate the overwhelming capacity of love to overcome obstacles.”

The lesson of Hazel is that we must believe we matter before we can thrive.

This is Zurenda’s second visit to the CAC. She presented a talk in early 2023 about her first novel. She is already hard at work on her third.

Bio

After graduating from Lancaster High School in the early 70s, Zurenda went to Converse College in Spartanburg and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. She and her husband, Wayne, raised two daughters and live in Spartanburg.

“Lancaster is my true home,” she said. “Ancestors on my father’s side have been in Lancaster since the early 1700s.”

The Beckham-Wade house belonged to her great grandfather.

Awards

“The Girl From the Red Rose Motel” was published in September by Mercer University Press. The book will be awarded the Patricia Winn Award in Fiction this June in Clarksville, Tenn. The novel has also been nominated for a 2024 Pushcart prize, is a 2023 Shelf Unbound Notable Indie 100, and an American Book Fest Award finalist.

For more information, visit www.susanzurenda.com.

Lecture series

CAC Conversations feature authors, researchers, civic leaders and entrepreneurs. The free lunchtime lectures are held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center, 307 W. Gay St.

The lecture series relies on donations to the Lancaster County Society for Historical Preservation. No registration is required. Onsite parking is free. Donations can be mailed to LCSHP, 1859 Craig Farm Road, Lancaster SC, 29720; or made online at lcschp.org.

The next lecture is June 5 and will feature former N.C. Gov. James G. Martin, who will talk about science and religion.