The Lynching of Laura

About the Book

When death interrupts life before its natural cessation, does the victim’s spirit return to search for closure? The Lynching of Laura, a work of fiction based on the historical lynching in 1911 of Laura Nelson and her pubescent son, presents a compelling motive for her spirit’s unrest. An infant son left behind must learn to survive in a lily- white town only a few miles away from the site of his mother’s lynching. Boley, an all black town just twelve miles away, challenges the town’s right to harbor a black child. Two women, one black, one white, break Jim Crow laws, endure social ostracism, and risk their lives as they join forces, pushing traditional choices aside to foster Baxter from infancy to adulthood. Not always in agreement as how best to help Baxter, both Vee Vee and Octavia struggle with compromise. After great suffering and personal loss, the two women together, engineer a crack in the iron wall of separation. A haunting presence permeates the pages of this first novel.

About the Author

Johnnie P. Stevenson, teacher of English with special emphases on speech and drama, resides in Spencer, Oklahoma. She is the author of more than twenty poems and occasionally does public readings and dramatic presentations from her works. Several of her poems are published in Pegasus, Spring 1998, a Rose State University publication. Ms. Stevenson received her B.A. Degree in English from Langston University and her M.S. Degree from Oklahoma State University. In addition, she completed writing courses at Rose State College and the University of Oklahoma. She is the widow of the late Lacey Stevenson, SR., retired Chief Petty Officer of the US Navy.