I can’t help but compare what has happened this time with what happened last time, after publication of my first book.

When The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia came out in the fall of 2016, it met with indifference, even hostility, in parts of Fauquier County. The book told a story some did not want to hear—the 1932 lynching of Shedrick Thompson in northern Fauquier. For several months, I was not invited to do a book signing or author talk, shopkeepers on Main Street in Warrenton declined to sell the book, and the Old Jail Museum in Warrenton decided that the book was too controversial for its gift shop.

As Margaret Sullivan, a Washington Post columnist, wrote at the time, “Getting the book sold or publicly discussed in Fauquier has been a seven-month struggle.”

There were several exceptions. Karen Hughes White, director at the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County, invited me to appear before her group, as did John Owens at what was then called Lord Fairfax Community College. The Old Jail Museum eventually changed its mind and invited me to do a presentation and offered the book for sale. And I will always be grateful to the folks at Rankin’s Hardware, who displayed the book at the front cash register and sold out.

Six years have passed, and attitudes have changed. Condemned for Love in Old Virginia has not yet been published (look for it July 17), but I have received three invitations to appear in Fauquier. Karen Hughes White and John Owens have again invited me, this time to tell the story of Arthur Jordan and Elvira Corder.

Plus, The Open Book, a relative newcomer to Main Street in Warrenton, has invited me to do a signing. The Open Book’s invitation means a lot to me. I see it as a vote for truth and reconciliation.

Opened in 2019, the bookstore features a Banned Books Club, whose members meet monthly to discuss banned books. This month’s selection is Beloved by Toni Morrison. Had Cammie Fuller, one of the owners, and Alison Zak, events coordinator, been there in 2016, I suspect they would have opened the door for the Last Lynching.   

Please join me for one of my scheduled appearances:

July 6, 2023, 7 p.m. – Behind the Page, an author panel sponsored by the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg, Va., Facebook Live, facebook.com/crrlnews.. No Facebook account needed.

July 22, 2023, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Book signing, The Open Book bookstore, 104 Main Street, Warrenton, Va. https://openbookwarrenton.com/events

Aug. 19, 2023, 1 p.m. – Book signing, Barnes & Noble bookstore, 1220 Carl D. Silver Parkway, Fredericksburg, Va.

Sept. 19, 2023, 1 p.m. – Public lecture, Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County, 4243 Loudoun Ave., The Plains, Va. https://www.aahafauquier.org/events-2

Sept. 27, 2023, noon – Public lecture, Lunch and Learn program, Laurel Ridge Community College, 6480 College St., Warrenton, Va.

Oct. 2, 2023, 7 p.m. – Public lecture, McCauley Lecture Program, Western Maryland Room, Washington County Free Library, Hagerstown, Md.