Books & Bites: Susan Zurenda at Hudson Library October 6

Issue: Whats News

Impoverished high school junior Hazel Smalls and privileged senior Sterling Lovell would never ordinarily meet. But when both are punished with in-school suspension, Sterling finds himself drawn to the gorgeous, studious girl seated nearby, and an unlikely relationship begins.

Set in 2012 South Carolina, the novel interlaces the stories of Hazel, living with her homeless family in the rundown Red Rose Motel; Sterling, yearning to break free from his wealthy parents’ expectations; and recently widowed Angela Wilmore, their stern but compassionate English teacher. Hazel hides her homelessness from Sterling until he discovers her cleaning the motel’s office when he goes with his slumlord father to unfreeze the motel’s pipes one morning. With her secret revealed, their relationship deepens. Angela — who has her own struggles in a budding romance with the divorced principal — offers Hazel the support her family can’t provide.

Navigating between privilege and poverty, vulnerability and strength, all three must confront what they need from themselves and each other as Hazel gains the courage to oppose boundaries and make a bold, life-changing decision at novel’s end. Gripping and richly drawn, The Girl from the Red Rose Motel explores the complex bonds between adults and teenagers and the power of the families we both inherit and create.

Inspired by the author’s experiences teaching in a South Carolina high school, the novel is also an unflinching, authentic look at the challenges faced by America’s public school teachers and the struggles of the thousands of homeless children in motels who live, precariously and almost invisibly, amid the nation’s most affluent communities.

After teaching literature, composition, and creative writing to thousands of high school and college students for 33 years, Susan Zurenda turned her attention to putting a novel in her heart on paper, the genesis of which started with a short story that won a fiction prize some years ago. Her debut novel, Bells for Eli, was released to readers in March 2020.

Susan has won numerous regional writing awards such as the South Carolina Fiction Prize (twice), the Porter Fleming Competition, and The Jubilee Writing Competition (twice). She lives in Spartanburg, SC with her husband Wayne, and has two daughters who live in the coastal area of the state. She is enormously proud of her four young grandchildren.

For more information or to request an accommodation, please call the library at 828-526-3031. Hudson Library, 554 Main Street in Highlands, is open 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM Tuesday through Friday and 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday.

Books & Bites events, including wine and cheese, are sponsored by the Hudson Library Board.