Scottsdale author's novel examines Blue Ridge Parkway conflict

The first time Scottsdale resident Josephine DeFalco drove the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, it left a huge imprint on her heart.

“Growing up in the desert, I had never seen such majestic greenery and wildlife. Near the top of the mountain, we turned a corner and I watched the clouds walk across the road in front of me. It took my breath away,” she said.

Later, she would discover that the beauty of the parkway was marked with pain and loss, leaving many families in the Appalachian Mountains with no choice but to sell the land and relinquish their livelihood. As the parkway concept played out during the 1930s, local farmers were approached to sell their land to make room for the parkway. It was believed the parkway would bring in tourist dollars to the state. It did, but at an enormous cost to the people living in Appalachia.

Many of the immigrant English and Scotts did not have deeds to their land. A century earlier, they moved into the territory and claimed their plot. Often unable to read and write, they didn’t have documents proving the land was theirs and subsequent generations failed to file the paperwork. Everyone knew where everyone else’s farm started and ended and never imagined their land would be taken.

When they were relocated, they were promised large sums of money, housing, and employment in a new city. These families were used to growing their own food and living off the land. Help was just up the road if they needed it. Instead, they had to find a way to get to the grocery store and budget their paycheck to make ends meet. There was no kin or neighbor to back you up. In the city you were on your own.

“It hurt me to think the concept of eminent domain could take away a man’s home and history,” DeFalco says. “And maybe some of my pain is personal. My home was taken for the Piestewa Peak Parkway (State Highway 51). We had designed and built the home ourselves. It was a great neighborhood and we lived there with our two little girls for only six years. I woke up one morning to watch the news and there it was, the path of the parkway going right through my living room. I was stunned and so were my neighbors. That night I had the news reporter in my living room with my neighbors as we expressed our astonishment. Clearly, this had been planned for many years and the property never should have been sold for residential development. It was a done deal and our neighborhood was going to be destroyed.”

Whatever the reason for the parkways, these experiences would go on to inspire DeFalco to write “The Butterfly Bush.”

The story opens in the late 1940s, told by the main character, Leandra. Her tale aligns the Blue Ridge Parkway displacements with her family’s move from their Appalachian farm to a big eastern city. When her mother remarries, and the family relocates, Leandra is torn from her extended family and the mountains she’s known as home. Ultimately, the upheaval and move will redefine the woman she becomes in her new environment.

In addition, a trend was building. Following World War II women were encouraged to relinquish their jobs to provide employment for returning soldiers. But many women took great pride in their work and wanted to secure a nontraditional position in the work force. By the 1950s and 60s, women chose to redefine their place in society. Leandra, like other women of her generation, planned to excel in school, get a college degree, and have a career of her own. Unlike many of the stories that depict Appalachian people as unworldly, she has different ideas about the path she would take. How her life unfolds is a complete surprise to Leandra and nothing like she envisioned.

While the Blue Ridge Parkway was a magnificent accomplishment and opened up the Appalachian mountains for countless visitors, it was not without the sacrifice of both the native and immigrant peoples that first settled the land. Driving the parkway provides a glimpse into the culture of Appalachia and a unique aspect of Americana destined to live forever in the rolling hills of the Smoky Mountains.

“The Butterfly Bush” is available on Amazon books and is part one of a series. “The Butterfly’s Secret” continues Leandra’s story and is expected to debut in 2025.

Visit josephinedefalco.com to find DeFalco’s monthly newsletter and blog. A Zoom book launch is planned in April.