A local author attended the Grifton Community Book Club’s meeting on Feb. 23 giving the members an opportunity to discuss their most recent read with the woman behind the book.
The group gathered at Grifton’s First Christian Church at 7:15 p.m. where they welcomed special guest Lisa C. Allen, the author of “The Key in the Willow Tree.”
Allen said the book is a sweet Southern saga about how four women navigate life when things happened they didn’t see coming, how they stayed strong, grew as people, as women, and get through life.
Eastern North Carolina is the backdrop of the book in the fictional town of Greenway and a neighboring community called Willow Green — because the willow tree is a very important part of the book.
Allen said that the publishing world is unkind to new writers. Companies want to stick to what they know is safe and they want to reject “clean” manuscripts.
“I wasn’t risqué enough, I didn’t have enough sex, and I wasn’t going to change who I am or my style of writing to beat to the drum of what the world is embracing versus what we need, which is a good clean story,” said Allen.
There were scriptures in the book that Allen referred to as stealth witnessing, and she made a conscious effort to make sure that the story was PG-13.
“I have two of the most precious granddaughters you’ve ever seen, and I would not want them to pick up a book one day and read it and blush and say, ‘My grandma wrote this stuff,’” said Allen.
Club coordinator Amy Hahn said that this is one of the first books from the club’s list that she could bring to work at Grifton School and not have to hide it from the students.
Allen’s goal was to create a friendship among the characters that inspired readers to wish they had friends like that, to try to go out and create relationships like that, and to know the value of having good women in your corner.
Book club members gave the book an average of four stars as a review; some liked it more than others, but the consensus was that it was a good casual read, which is exactly what Allen said she was going for.
“It is a great beach read; you fall in love with the characters, and one person said tonight you miss the characters when it’s over,” said Hahn.
Allen said she missed the characters when she finished the book, which is why she wrote a sequel called “Blue Violet Letters,” and she is currently writing the third book of the trilogy.
Allen said that you can find “The Key in the Willow Tree” and “Blue Violet Letters” at Barnes & Nobles, Amazon.com, and anywhere books are sold.
The Grifton Community Book Club began in July of 2023 and Hahn said that with each book they have a different number of people coming to the meetings.
“With it being winter, dark out, and the seasonal weather, we’ve kind of lost a few people, but they’re very active online as a group,” Hahn said of the club’s activity. “We usually have 10 to 15 people, and I’m looking forward to spring because I think we’ll get more people in attendance.”
The club typically meets at 7:15 p.m. on the last Friday of the month at First Christian, 579 Queen St., and has a private Facebook page for disuccsions.
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