Hush Now, Baby: A Memoir

by Angela W. Williams

Overview

Hush Now, Baby is the story of how a little white girl climbed out of an uneasy childhood in the segregated South…on the backbone of a black woman who loved her unabashedly. A host of African-American women permeated Southern families. One of those stalwart women was Eva Aiken, a central figure in the author’s life from her birth…until Eva staged a sit-in at the girl’s wedding.

The story captures the glorious early years of the Lowcountry South Carolina family then graphically depicts its unraveling. Eva holds them together. The family and the country’s parallel struggles converge. The author lives in bubble-wrap until Civil Rights issues escalate. This story is told without pathos and with graceful restraint—the Southern way.



“Angela’s prose plunges us back in time when a generation of white children were raised by the calloused hands of slaves who, despite being freed by Lincoln, remained chained to a stubborn way of life. Instead of killing us in our sleep, they became our guardian angels, for reasons still mysteriously misunderstood.” --Ken Burger, author of Swallow Savannah, Sister Santee, Salkehatchie Soup, and Baptized in Sweet Tea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781680030358
Publisher:	Texas Review Press
Publication date:	05/15/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

ANGELA WILLIAMS grew up in a family with deep roots in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and currently lives in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. A life-long teacher, she has published academic books and articles as well as short stories. Currently she is a Communication Consultant and Coach.

What People are Saying About This

Cassandra King

"Hush Now, Baby is a moving and unforgettable memoir which explores the complexity of race, family, love, loyalty, self-awareness and forgiveness with rare courage and honesty. This is a book you'll want to give everyone you'll know."
—Cassandra King, author of Moonrise 

Dr. Particia Williams

"As the cocoon unraveled around Angela, we see her spirit awakening and a deep resolve to speak out for the African-American voices often hushed in the 40s and 50s. Her account of Southern life provides a thought-provoking, realistic view of those turbulent decades. While slowly grasping how injustices permeated Southern culture, she faced her own family's struggles with abuse, alcoholism, and philandering. This is a poignant coming of age story with Eva there every stop of the way."
—Dr. Particia Williams, Professor Emeritus, Sam Houston State University

Michel Stone

"Angela Williams writes with grace and bravery, a captivating memoir. Hush Now, Baby will leave you loving and admiring Eva, and cheering for her and Angela all the way."
—Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree

Ceille Baird Welch

"Just when I thought I understood the South, here came Angie and Eva. Hush Now, Baby breathes with an imagery that begs to be seen one stage and screen."
—Ceille Baird Welch, playwright 

Mary B. Johnson

"Angela's memoir belongs right next to Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin' and James McBride's The Color of Water. It is truly wonderful on any level you measure it."
—Mary B. Johnson, Editor, Word Works Stories 

Ken Burger

"Angela's prose plunges us back in time when a generation of white children were raised by the calloused hands of slaves who, despite being freed by Lincoln, remained chained to a stubborn way of life. Instead of killing us in our sleep, they became out guardian angels, for reasons still mysteriously misunderstood."
—Ken Burger, author of Swallow Savannah 

Editorial Reviews

2015-04-01
An adoring view of a childhood nanny in Pinopolis, South Carolina, that does not disguise the ugly specter of 1950s segregation. Williams, a former longtime professor of English at The Citadel, in Charleston, writes of growing up in the Deep South with both conviction and a sense of deep irony. The author was essentially raised by the African-American "help," enlisted to take care of her when she was born in 1941. Eva Edwards Motte Aiken worked for the Williams family for 20 years, running a household consisting of three children and the disputatious, well-groomed parents who would eventually divorce. Eva was devoutly Christian and full of love and joy, unlike Williams' own mother, Clara Lee, a college-educated, privileged white Southern girl and teacher who had her pick of husbands yet remained hard-shelled, unaffectionate, and undemonstrative toward her children. While Eva ran the household, Williams' father, Buster, hailing from a long line of preachers, did his best to dismantle it, drinking heavily, squandering the inherited farm-supply business, beating the children, and running with women. As this is a Southern memoir, two themes predominate: family roots somnambulate spaciously, and the steely determination of the Southern female proves that it is not to be underestimated. As Buster continued his downward slide and stumbled along in appalling drunkenness, Eva and Clara Lee reshuffled the household. Clara Lee took command of the family business and eventually divorced the drunk, philandering Buster—even though divorce was fairly scandalous at that time in the South. Meanwhile, writes the author, "the tectonic plates underneath us were moving," politically, socially, and personally. The author, while not a direct participant in civil rights activism, demonstrates enormous sympathy for the cause and puts Eva squarely in the narrative's front seat. An unabashedly emotional narrative that only occasionally requires readers to bushwhack through thick vines of memory.

Kirkus Reviews