Three Southern Women Confront the Tragedy of War in A Dangerous Age

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ellen Gilchrist’s most recent novel, A Dangerous Age, follows three women from the Hand family, the Southern dynasty that has appeared in many of her previous works, as they live through and respond to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq.

Each of the Hand cousins is confronted with tragedy and loss as the men they love go off to war. Through telephone, letters and e-mail, the cousins carry on conversations across thousands of miles that echo women’s voices from a front porch on a Southern evening, supporting each other with humor and common sense.

“Characters choose me to tell certain stories or else the stories come complete with the characters I need,” Gilchrist said. “In this case, it all came to me at once, but in stories first, then the novel.”

The novel reads like a collection of kindred stories, woven together by the spirit of the women in the face of sometimes overwhelming international events. The events are 21^st century, but the women’s strength and sensibility are generations old:

“Olivia woke up and put her hand on Winifred’s head and began to pat her. ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be okay. It isn’t the end for you. It’s a tragedy but you’ll live through it. Our ancestors lost their loved ones all the time and they pulled through. We just have to relearn how to do it.’”

Gilchrist’s writing has been praised by USA Today as “funny, wise and wonderful.” The Washington Post has called her “a national cultural treasure.” A Dangerous Age, her first novel in more than a decade, is published by Algonquin Books.

Gilchrist is a visiting associate professor of creative writing in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. A winner of the National Book Award for Victory Over Japan, Gilchrist is the author of more than 20 books, including novels, a memoir and collections of short stories and poetry.