Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Sept. 2, 1999, edition 1 / Page 3
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Irene Egerton's 'Light in the Basement' set in Winston-Salem BY FELBCIA P MCMILLAN COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENT Irene Egerton is a woman on a mission. In less than two months, her >Qtst novel, "Light in the Base ; ipent," is scheduled to hit the ; streets. But before that happens, Egerton has to figure out a way ! to whittle it down from a daunt ; ing 1,000 pages. Two weeks ago, Egerton, Hanked by Patricia Bonner, a professor at N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University, held a first reading of the book. "I really didn't want to write another book about poor black ; people. I know about the bank ruptcy, and repossession, and I : guess I just wanted to escape," ; sjiid Egerton. "This novel deals OWith first-generation blacks ? whose parents were maids and * butlers but made sure their chil ; jdren were educated. I wanted to focus on wealthy blacks with a . -Heart, who are conscious of ;.poor people." Egerton owns Unique I Upstairs Jazz Club in downtown Winston-Salem. Members of the Literary Voices Book Club invit ed her to read from "Light in the Basement" on Aug. 21 at the home of Todd Mclver. Terri Gentry, Tracey Staples and Letisha Dixon founded Lit erary Voices last year. The club has 1S members. A native of New York, Egerton has lived in North Car olina fbr 20 years. She is a moth er of two. She received her undergraduate degree from High Point University and her mas ter's degree from University of New Hampshire. With the help of Bonner, the book's editor, Egerton plans to release the novel later this fall. Bonner has worked with Egerton for the last four years she has been writing. She has assisted Egerton with cutting to the core of the; work. "I have watched Irene grow as a writer, as she wrote, revised and I edited, and it has been a beautiful struggle," Bonner said. "She has ope of the best stories I have encountered. I love read ing. This publication is relevant, old, traditional, and new." The plot of the story revolves around six affluent African American characters who live and work in the Winston-Salem area. Egerton received the germ of her tale from a dream. "When I was young, we had a lot of money, but if we were bad, my father would punish us by putting us in a dark basement for four to six hours," Egerton said. "I was 8 years old, and my sister and I would literally play pitty-pat in the dark because we could see nothing." Although the light switch in " the basement was on the inside with the children, and rats scur ried about their .feet, neither of them would turn on the light because they were paralyzed by fear of their father. "Many of us are trapped in basement marriages, basement careers and darkness surrounds us," Egerton said. "Until you flip the light switch inside your self, you will remain entrapped." The book is divided into three sections: "Finality," "Tran sition" and Beginnings." These three divisions of the story reveal the underlying theme of the novel. "Once you get fed up with the bondage you are in.wou have to go through a transition. You may leave a dead end. relation ship, go back to schooler find a new job, bufr".you make new beginnings," Egerton said. Having worked in the pur chasing department of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for 10 years, Egerton felt trapped in a maze. She began exploring other options. She became. obsessed with the writing of "Light in the Basement" four years ago. The germ of the story appeared to her in a dream, and periodically when she is at her computer, she says she can feel a group of peo ple cheering her on as if the ancestors are encouraging her work. Members of Literary Voices received 500-page excerpts from the book to read before the dis cussion. Many of them found it refreshing to read a story cen tered around a Southern setting. "Most of the books we read tend to be set in a large urban city in the North," one reader said. The reader enjoyed being able to identify such areas as Clemmons, Kimberly Park Pro jects, Advance, High Point, Brown Summit,^ Madison Park or Sherwood Forest. The group held a lively debate about the depiction of fraternities and sororities in the book. * "The characters seem to be down on Greek organizations. Those who are in these organiza tions are college-educated pro fessionals who would tend to be your reading public. Why alien . ate them with this perspective?" "charged another reader. Egerton had a ready reply "They will get upset, but a lot of the organizations I see, 1 can not ?ee what they are doing to help the black community become economically strong," she said. "We need to put a banking system in place." The characters suggest vari ous ways Greek organizations can serve the community. Some pf the characters have ironic names such as Booker T. who is a militant Black Panther-type. Many of the men in the group were pleased to see posi tive images of black males in the book. Egerton also tackles long standing issues like color con sciousness in the black commu nity. Dark-skinned characters are faced with challenges and problems that stem simply from skin color. "I had this story to tell, and sometimes 1 cried as 1 wrote it. Some people will like it. Some will be angered by it. Some will be excited by it. It will make you laugh; it will make you cry. ... I wanted some strong black men who loved their black women. I also portrayed black women loving each other instead of being antagonistic." Egerton wants her story to be heard, but she says she's not try ing to write a perfect novel. "Perfection is a farce," she said. "The facade Soon starts Irene Igorton talks with members of Litmrary Voices Book Cfub about her new book. 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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