Aural Oaks: A Novel
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.
Description
This thesis has been embargoed for 10 years. It will not be available until May 2030 at the earliest.
Keywords
Fiction, Southern literature, Rural, Virginia, Chorus, Tobacco