Abstract:
Set in rural Southside Virginia, this thesis, a novel titled “Aural Oaks,” plumbs the depths of a
community as it encounters change. It focuses on Savannah Vickers, whose quiet life is uprooted
when her grandfather Rick goes missing. As she searches for the truth, she has to contend with
her own past and decide her future. The Vickers family is an agricultural dynasty in this hamlet,
and Savannah comes to terms with what that actually means as a legacy, as well as what it means
for a woman to take over the name. Her world is populated with people both endearing and
mysterious: her cousin Ester, boyfriend Clint, best friend Amber, blind great-aunt Wilda, vagrant
father Mark and many more. Their voices punctuate the main narrative to build the feel of a
community, build out the narrative, and invoke the drama of a Greek chorus in swiftly declining
tobacco land.
