Sunday April 28, 2002

New book prompts author's reflection
By Lisa Law
lisa.law@gaflnews.com

Lisa Law/
Americus Times-Recorder

In her Japanese-style garden, Jacquelyn Cook often spends hours gardening among a variety of flowers designed to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

DESOTO Dressed in pink linen, simply elegant, she is delicate but strong, just as she describes her female characters in her most recent novel "Magnolias."

"I have always titled my books before; I didn't title this one. I don't know why they titled it 'Magnolias.' I would guess the magnolia flower is a flower that is fragile, yet beautiful, delicate, strong and unruffled by the storm, symbolic to the women in my novel who are unruffled by the trials of the war and the trouble that entered into their lives. There was so much change during the 1850's -70's," she said.

The intriguing Cook, a well known and best-selling author recently had a collectors edition published. This edition consists of four of her previously completed novels about the romantic history of the south. With a mansion called "Barbour Hall" and a girl called Lily Edwards, and a river called the Chattahoochee, Cook ushers her readers along a family's journey of transformation and renewal.

Cook reflects on the earlier years, her interests, her goals, as a writer. "I have been writing novels since the late 70s, early '80s. I sold my first story to "Home Life Magazine" in 1963. My goal in writing is to write timeless stories with lasting values," she said.

Obviously, since Cook 's stories have made an impression and are in high demand; a collection was the answer. "An editor called me, out of the blue, and asked me if I would like to publish all four of my novels into one book," said Cook. "It was something that I had always wanted to do," she said.

Cook started out early, writing stories as a child. "My mother would always read to me. I made up stories as a child. I have always loved to write all my life," she said. Her early interest, obviously was nurtured. "When my children were small, I wrote for the Historical Society, magazines and newspapers. I have written a few local histories, and ghosts stories, also," she said.

It had become difficult at times to gain access to Cook's books. "I would get bushels of fan mail from all over the country wanting to know what happens next," she said. "The characters become real for me; they also become real to my readers," she said. "I like to write about real things and events. Someone asked me at one time, 'Why do you write about the steamy heat and the fragrances?' Well, I want people up North or anywhere, to be able to visit these places through my books. I want them to be able to see, feel and touch as if they are really there," said Cook. "I had a reader write and tell me she had seen Libby's bed while she was visiting Eufaula. She had to have been paying close attention to detail to recognize that bed. The furniture and things are real in my stories," she said.

"At first I had an interest in writing Gothic," said Cook. "One day I was out here, in the garden, and a mockingbird flew down and attacked my cat. I said to myself, 'I think I will write about that.' I knew I had to write fiction and put that in a story," she said.

Cook, researching histories of the people who occupied the homes, cities and towns of her novels, and with her real-life observations, started creating fictional characters. "As I entered into Fendall Hall, the mansion I named Barbor Hall in my novel, the mansion my novels center around, I went up into the belvedere and I could imagine my characters. I could see Lilly dreaming of her steamboat captain," said Cook.

She has since, created over the years several novels of the history of Eufaula, Ala., the romance of the age and the river, In novels such as "The River Between" which was published In 1985, "The Wind Along The River" (1986), "River of Fire" (1992) and "Beyond the Searching River (1993).

Cook, with her inquisitive nature, had asked herself, 'Why does Eufaula have so many Italianate marble and belvederes in their architecture, unlike the Greek Revival, she had experience in Georgia?

"I found, through research, the river was the main reason for uniqueness of this town. The people on the riverboats were cosmopolitans; they would have Italianate marble and French antiques shipped in from Apalachicola in exchange, for cotton," said Cook, "The widow walks that are a popular part of the architecture of many of the Eufaula homes were used to watch for the steamboats and to watch the weather. I found also oftentimes the river would dry up and become unnavigatible. This is where, in my stories, the river would separate loved ones," said Cook.

Americus Times-Recorder, Americus, Georgia