BELLS FOR ELI by Susan Beckham Zurenda
There is hardly anything I enjoy more than discovering a truly uniquely talented author . So you can imagine my excitement in discovering Susan Beckham Zurenda. She is a brilliant writer and to make it even better a brilliant southern writer. Alright I admit it. I am prejudiced towards southern writers. There is something so delicious in reading about southern characters in a southern setting, and it being written by a southern author.
Zurenda is from Spartanburg, South Carolina which is about forty miles from my hometown of Clinton, South Carolina as the crow flies. Her debut novel BELLS FOR ELI is set in the fictional town of Green Branch, South Carolina. It concerns a girl named Delia and a boy named Eli. They are first cousins, live across the street from one another, and are in love. In South Carolina of the 50’s thru 70’s it was not socially allowed for first cousins to marry. It was definitely frowned upon.
Early in his life Eli was the victim of a terrible accident which marred and scarred his entire life. Delia observed it all and helped out when she could. She wanted to protect him and he wanted to protect her, and that is how their relationship grew.
Watching Zurenda weave her story is like traveling back in time. The South has gone through some pretty big changes, but some things stay the same. And in the decades over which this story is written old habits died hard. Delia and Eli are both hard headed, independent people but they know which rules to bend and which ones to break.
Delia is the star of this show even though Eli has his name in the title of the book. Everything is seen through her eyes. He is a little wilder, a little more experienced than she, and he is always urging her to break out and live life fuller. At the same time he wants to protect her from getting her heart broken by one young man after another.
The South is a place of atmosphere and Zurenda nails the description of its sights, sounds and fragrances. She lets her young heroes wander through the world characters of Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers might have wandered. And in their ways they are as quirky and convoluted as those people these two authors created.
For me reading this story was like going home. I knew this town, knew these people, knew this world. Zurenda spoke to me in a way few authors have in the past.
I am not saying you have to be a southerner to enjoy this book. Not at all. You just have to enjoy the southern style this author possesses. Mark down her name – Susan Beckham Zurenda. You are going to hear a lot more from her and about her.
BELLS FOR ELI is published by Mercer University Press. It contains 269 pages and sells for $25.00.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
