Shelf Life: Books by Furman alumni and professors

Gracie the Goat

Gracie the Goat

By Katie Morgan Lester ’96

(Little Sapiens)

Gracie the Goat is Katie Morgan Lester’s newest and third children’s book that she has written and illustrated. In this book, Gracie is on an adventure to meet a new friend. She learns a lesson about being a good listener. It is a story inspired by her family’s pet goat, and the setting is based on the farm Katie grew up on surrounded by animals of all kinds.

Lester ’96 is a native of Gaffney, South Carolina, and received a bachelor’s degree from Furman in studio arts. She has written two other books, “Picky Pig Pete” and “Raymond the Rooster,” both about animals from her family farm.

A Glooming Peace This Morning

A Glooming Peace This Morning

By Allen Mendenhall ’05

(The University of West Alabama’s
Livingston Press)

Cephas recounts childhood events in the 1970s that retell the story of the improbable, forbidden love between Tommy Cox, who has an intellectual disability, and Sarah Warren, the underage darling of polite society. The two are pushed together by a mysterious illness, and their illicit relationship results in a heated trial that stirs the entire town. Tommy’s prosecution turns on whether he could have, under the law, formed the requisite intent to be found guilty of the crime for which he’s charged. Cephas and his friends – Lump, Brett and Michael – struggle to come to terms with their growing knowledge of Tommy and Sarah’s intimate relationship. Along the way the four learn much – perhaps too much – about justice, truth, lust and love.

Allen Mendenhall ’05 is the associate dean of the Sorrell College of Business at Troy University, where he directs the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Furman and went on to earn a doctorate in English from Auburn University.

Echoes of Us

Echoes of Us

By Joy Jordan-Lake ’85

(Lake Union Publishing)

From the bestselling author of “Under a Gilded Moon” comes the soaring story of an unlikely friendship of three men and one extraordinary woman and the legacy they built – if their own secrets don’t destroy it.

During World War II, a Tennessee farm boy, a Jewish Cambridge student and a German POW forge a connection that endures – against all odds.

But now everything that Will Dobbins, Dov Silverberg and Hans Hessler fought for is at risk as their descendants clash for control of the corporation they founded together. In an attempt to remake its tattered corporate image, the firm hires event planner Hadley Jacks and her sister Kitzie to organize a reunion for the families on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the place that changed all three men’s lives forever.

As Hadley and her sister delve into the friends’ past, they uncover the life of the courageous young woman who links them all together … and the old wounds that could tear everything apart.

Told in dual timelines spanning World War II and the present, “Echoes of Us” follows the ripple effects of war, the bonds that outlast it and the hope that ultimately carries us forward.

Joy Jordan-Lake ’85 earned a bachelor’s degree from Furman in English and her doctorate in English and American Literature from Tufts University. She is a full-time writer out of her home in Tennessee.

To Gender or Not to Gender: Casting and Characters for 21st Century Shakespeare

To Gender or Not to Gender: Casting and Characters for 21st Century Shakespeare

By Margaret J. Oakes, professor of English at Furman University
(McFarland Books)

Can Othello be a woman? Can Ophelia be a man? Why not? Intended for Shakespeare lovers, scholars and Shakespearean theater professionals, this study explores ways in which gender has been reinterpreted by British and North American productions since the turn of the millennium.

First discussing gender theory, including modern, individualistic identity, this book leads to deep shifts in thinking about sex, gender identity and expression, and sexuality seen in 21st century Shakespearean production casting, directing and acting decisions. The inclusion of selected productions and characters such as Othello, Richard III, Ophelia and Olivia encourage readers to make use of “category creation” to reinterpret these characters by rethinking gender. Covered productions are divided into three sections including those that “cross-sex” cast, those that “resex” a character, and those that leave open questions of gender considering how terms like “gender-blending,” “gender-bending” or “gender-blind” are meaningful in 21st century Shakespeare.

Margaret J. Oakes is a professor of English at Furman, specializing in early modern British poetry, Shakespeare and detective fiction.