In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face flushed, and she turned her head to look out the window. After a second, she squeezed my hand and looked back in my eyes. She said, “You’ve always been a good girl, Maude, and done what I told you. Now, you’re going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand, but I nodded my head anyway. It sounded strange to me, the way so many things did. I would do what she told me. I didn’t have a choice, any more than I had a choice in being born.
About Donna Mabry
When Donna was five years old, her father gave her a red and white Singer sewing machine for Christmas. It was powered by turning a little wheel on the side, and it was just what the little girl wanted. Somehow, Mabry says, she already knew how to make simple dresses for her dolls.
Over the years, her machines included an old foot-treadle powered White, then her first electric, another Singer, with a cast-iron body that was so heavy she couldn't lift it by herself. She made clothes for herself and her daughter, Melanie. When her children were small, she didn't work outside of the home, but earned her own money dressmaking for wealthy ladies.
When the family moved to Florida, Melanie was fifteen and immediately became involved with the Venice Little Theatre. Soon, the whole family was spending their free time there. Husband Lonnie acted and helped with props, son David acted and did lights. One Christmas, David was a witches helper in, "The Wizard of Oz", and grew so much over the summer that the next year, he was the Scarecrow.
The costume designer, Joan Dillon, taught Donna the finer points of costume construction. Over the years, Donna sewed, acted, and performed various other duties at the theatre, and her daughter went on to study acting and dance at USF and became a professional actor. That led both of them to Las Vegas.
Melanie came first, doing a show at the MGM Grand for a year, then deciding to settle down. She went into marketing, starting in events and tournaments at the Sahara, then working her way up to Entertainment Director at Harrah's on the Las Vegas strip.
While she was working there, Melanie persuaded her boss to hire her mother to make costumes. Melanie introduced Donna to her friends and workmates, colorful people to say the least. She set up a work area for her Mom in the back of the dressing room. Soon, Donna was making notes on things she heard while she was sewing.
Donna hadn't written since college, but thought about the interesting people and great stories and decided to stitch them together into her first novel, "The Last Two Aces in Las Vegas".
"Everyone in it is based on at least one real person.", says Mabry, "Some of the characters are two or three people put together. My leading man, Alberto, is actually three people, he has one person's childhood, a different one's early adulthood, and another's older years. Many of the stories told in the book are true, and a few of them didn't take place until after the book was finished. I'm very interested in what makes people do the things they do, so given their personalities, it wasn't too difficult to see how they would react in certain situations. It's fun when a Vegas old-timer reads it and tries to guess who the character is in real life".
She continues, "Sometimes, the guess surprises me, and sometimes they're right on the money. It's not always who you might think."
With four books now published in the series, the story lines seem almost endless.
"These are sort of backwards mysteries, like the old TV show, Colombo.", says Donna, "You know right away who the killer is, the mystery comes in finding out what will happen to trip them up".
Review by Judi Singleton
This is not only Maude's story but her whole family's story. The joys and sorrows of a family. The book depicts an important history lesson as well of the growth of the power of women over the years. Maude seemed to draw strength from Donna listening to her life story. The story is mostly sad but Maude felt powerless to change most things even though she really tried to change all she could.
Oh, I think it's a book everyone should read. I do. My grandmothers life was much the same I think. She married a age 12 to an older man who was in his 40's. Now days that would be considered child abuse. She had two children and never complained about her lot in life. She was a hard worker. She was widowed young. My grandfather made my dad promise to take care of his mother and sister and he did. But women did not have the choices they have now. They married and if they lost their husbands they found another one. Walking to a place to find a job. Many a person did that during the dust bowl. During the depression Maude really had it better than most. The story was sad in light of our modern times but it was an ordinary story during Maude's time. I got bored with the story it took me a long time to read because I would lose interest. I want a story that carries me into another fantasy life not one of sorrow and codependence. Perhaps if I was not who I am the story would have interested me more. I would give it three stars. I would recommend it to those who want to learn about that age in history. It is very realistic.
Judi Singleton is the owner operator of Bejewelu.com where you can dress the whole family for less
No comments:
Post a Comment