The author, on how she and her dogs were united:
We had three older dogs at the time when we got Molly almost 10 years ago. She was the puppy you get to distract you from the fact that the old guys weren’t going to be around much longer. They lasted three more years. So what did we do? We got a fifth dog, Toby, who was a 25th wedding anniversary present to my husband. The old guys, Shadow, Fuzzy, and Milo passed away within a year of each other. We thought about being a two-dog family, but that didn’t last long. Wylie was a Christmas present from...[read on]About Boykin's new novel, The Wisdom of Hair, from the publisher:
Life can be beautiful, but it takes a little work...Learn more about the book and author at Kim Boykin's website.
“The problem with cutting your own hair is that once you start, you just keep cutting, trying to fix it, and the truth is, some things can never be fixed. The day of my daddy’s funeral, I cut my bangs until they were the length of those little paintbrushes that come with dime-store watercolor sets. I was nine years old. People asked me why I did it, but I was too young then to know I was changing my hair because I wanted to change my life.”
In 1983, on her nineteenth birthday, Zora Adams finally says goodbye to her alcoholic mother and their tiny town in the mountains of South Carolina. Livingwith a woman who dresses like Judy Garland and brings home a different man each night is not a pretty existence, and Zora is ready for life to be beautiful.
With the help of a beloved teacher, she moves to a coastal town and enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Cathcart, she learns the art of fixing hair, and becomes fast friends with the lively Sara Jane Farquhar, a natural hair stylist. She also falls hard for handsome young widower Winston Sawyer, who is drowning his grief in bourbon. She couldn’t save Mama, but maybe she can save him.
As Zora practices finger waves, updos, and spit curls, she also comes to learn that few things are permanent in this life—except real love, lasting friendship, and, ultimately… forgiveness.
The Page 69 Test: The Wisdom of Hair.
My Book, The Movie: The Wisdom of Hair.
Writers Read: Kim Boykin.
Read--Coffee with a Canine: Kim Boykin & Wylie, Molly and Toby.
--Marshal Zeringue
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