Glow: A Novel

Jessica Maria Tuccelli

Mar 2012 · Penguin

About this ebook

In the autumn of 1941, Amelia J. McGee, a young woman of Cherokee and Scotch-Irish descent, and an outspoken pamphleteer for the NAACP, hastily sends her daughter, Ella, alone on a bus home to Georgia in the middle of the night—a desperate measure that proves calamitous when the child encounters two drifters and is left for dead on the side of the road.

Ella awakens in the homestead of Willie Mae Cotton, a wise root doctor and former slave, and her partner, Mary-Mary Freeborn, tucked deep in the Takatoka Forest. As Ella heals, the secrets of her lineage are revealed.

Shot through with Cherokee lore and hoodoo conjuring, Glow transports us from Washington, D.C., on the brink of World War II to the Blue Ridge frontier of 1836, from the parlors of antebellum manses to the plantation kitchens where girls are raised by women who stand in as mothers. As the land with all its promise and turmoil passes from one generation to the next, Ella's ancestral home turns from safe haven to mayhem and back again.

Jessica Maria Tuccelli reveals deep insight into individual acts that can transform a community, and the ties that bind people together across immeasurable hardships and distances. Illuminating the tragedy of human frailty, the vitality of friendship and hope, and the fiercest of all bonds—mother love—the voices of Glow transcend their history with grace and splendor.

Ratings and reviews

According to the back cover synopsis, GLOW (March 2012) is about a NAACP pamphleteer whose daughter is attacked and left for dead, only to later be found and cared for by a former slave and her partner. This summary only touches the surface of what this book is about. To read it is a journey all its own. The book consists of four main interconnected storylines. Together they tell the multi-generational story of the families living in the mountains of Southern Appalachia (Georgia) from 1826 to 1941. First we meet Amelia and Ella McGee—the mother and daughter mentioned in the back cover synopsis. Being of Cherokee and Scotch-Irish descent, Amelia has been persecuted for her heritage all her life and does her best to protect her daughter. Willie Mae Cotton is one of the women who rescues Ella from the side of the road. She tells her story of life on a plantation in Hopewell County, Georgia. Finally, we meet Riddle Young—a “half-breed” who manages the plantation where Willie Mae lived. Slowly, but surely, the connections between these characters are revealed. Each storyline is told through a first-person narrative. The characters are well developed and each has his/her own distinctive voice. I really got to know them—their beliefs, their hopes, their dreams. In addition to these main characters, secondary characters supplement the plot and enrich the novel even more. Admittedly, keeping track of all these characters and relationships was difficult at times. Thankfully, though, the author included a family tree in the beginning of the book that I found very helpful. GLOW is a very special book—one I would recommend everyone reads. It’s one of those books that is difficult to put down, makes you pause and reflect, and remains with you long after you turn the last page. Jessica Maria Tuccelli is certainly an author to watch. Her debut novel is a remarkable feat.

About the author

Jessica Maria Tuccelli is a graduate of MIT. She currently resides in New York City. Glow is her first novel.