Annette Clapsaddle
Author Annette Clapsaddle is heading over to the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library to discuss her latest book, “Even as We Breathe.” Hosted by the Cashiers Historical Society, the upcoming event is scheduled for April 30 at 2 p.m., in which she will dive into the writing process of her story.
“I think that she’s a very, very insightful and engaging speaker. So, anyone who’s got an interest in historical fiction or just contemporary fiction in general is going to find her very interesting,” said Michael Redman, event coordinator for the library. “They’ll learn a lot about writing for that specific genre.”
Set during World War II, Even as We Breathe centers around 19-year-old Cowney Sequoyeah, who escapes his hometown of Cherokee and lands a summer job at Asheville’s historic Grove Park Inn.
However, with the war raging in Europe, the inn soon ends up housing diplomats of the Axis powers as prisoners of war. When one of the daughters of the residents goes missing, Cowney finds himself accused of abduction and murder.
Clapsaddle is the first member of the East Band of Cherokee Indians to publish a novel. However, she also said that she hopes to further embrace her peers. She previously started an Indigenous writers’ workshop series called Confluence in partnership with the Museum of the Cherokee People, which specifically brings in Indigenous writers to work within their community.
“That’s kind of that’s really been my focus now is making sure there are other voices that have publishing opportunities, when possible,” Clapsaddle said.
On her inspirations behind the story, Clapsaddle said the initial idea came from her learning about the real history of the Grove Park Inn’s involvement during the war from an article she read.
“When I read that article, I was really interested in it because I’ve lived here in Cherokee my whole life except for college and Graduate School,” she said. “And that’s the first time I’ve heard that story. So, it really struck me as an important period in time and place to be able to look at this high-class resort where the wealthy go to vacation and then all of a sudden, it’s turned into a prison.”
Adding to this, Clapsaddle said the research process behind the story focused on the region, specifically what went on in Cherokee and Asheville during World War II. As part of the research, Clapsaddle focused on studying photographs of the time period to truly capture its essence.
“For me, as a fiction writer who wasn’t really interested in telling another World War II story, I just wanted to capture the place and the feeling of the place. And photographs allowed me to do that better than anything else to get a sense of how things have changed, but how they haven’t changed when I’m when I’m setting a scene,” she said.
Cashiers Historical Society Executive Director Amelia Golcheski said Clapsaddle’s upcoming visit to the library will primarily focus on her leading a discussion about the writing process behind the book, including the reasons behind its development.
“I think for so many of us, our first gateway to history is reading historical fiction,” said Amelia Golcheski, executive director of the Cashiers Historical Society. “We’re hoping her coming here and us partnering with the library kind of illustrates the importance of historical fiction as a launchpad to studying history.”
Adding to this, Golcheski said the local history presented in the story is important because it is tied to the overarching international history, and how an event as large as World War II played in impact in smaller places such as Western North Carolina.
“CHS, we’re all about getting people interested in learning about where the good, bad and ugly, of where we live. And I think local history is so important,” she said.