I certainly was. It curled up on one side and down on the other, giving me the dreaded BOZO the CLOWN look. And inspired me to mope about and complain.
Her hair inspired Keenan Powell to mope about and complain, too. But finding the "roots of those roots" also inspired her to write THE SORROWFUL GIRL -- part social history, part adventure, part murder mystery, part family saga, and completely engaging.
KEENAN POWELL: The inspiration for my Gilded Age novel, The Sorrowful Girl, was my investigation into why I have naturally curly hair. The hair wasn’t an issue for me until I hit first grade and the other kids, all straight-haired, called me “Fuzzy Wuzzy.”
I wanted to know why I was different, so I asked my mom.
She said it came from our Irish ancestors named Barrett. But that was all she knew, and she was uncertain at that. She also told me my great aunts had seen leprechauns when they were in Ireland. So it’s not that I doubted her veracity, but I wondered how accurate her sources were.
When I discovered ancestry.com and began building the family tree, I learned that my second great grandmother, Mary Barrett, had immigrated from Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, in 1865 with her husband, following her parents, William and Ann Barrett.
Aha! There were Barrett ancestors, but did they have the hair?
I met a cousin online also was descended from William and Ann Barrett. She told me that indeed the family tree is rife with naturally curly hair.
My cousin, JoAnn, was an accomplished amateur genealogist. In 2013, we spent a delightful few days visiting Adams, walking through graveyards, pawing through the recorder’s office file cabinets, and spotting locations where our family and had lived and worked.
Adams has a nineteenth-century village atmosphere, nestled between Mount Greylock on the west and the Hoosac range on the east. The presence of Mount Greylock must have felt like home to my ancestors, who had lived in view of Nephin Mountain back home in Ireland.
Standing on the sidewalk in downtown Adams in view of Mount Greylock, I envisioned the old trolley that my grandfather rode. I visited the storefront where one ancestor had worked as a dressmaker. We drove by the Berkshire Mill, made famous by Lewis Hines for his child labor photographs, where many of the family had worked from the age of fourteen years. We also visited the apartment complex that at one time was filled by entirely by my family, the place where my great grandfather’s bar stood, the block named after an uncle, one of the men who championed the creation of the Mount Greylock State Reservation.
My imagination took hold.
I wanted to tell the story of how these brave Irish ancestors came to the United States in the mid-eighteenth century for sanctuary, leaving behind their beloved, but impoverished Ireland, how they fought against anti-Irish prejudice, and how hard they worked to build a better life for their children. I am in debt to these people.
The result is The Sorrowful Girl. In it, I attempted to weave the immigrant struggle with the beauty of the Irish culture. The protagonist is Liam Barrett, an Adams police officer who had dreamed of going to law school but was forced to give up his dreams when his father died unexpectedly, leaving Liam as the sole breadwinner. His sidekick, Father Frank is a young priest from County Cork, who scandalizes the parish by telling stories from the old religion, the myths of Ireland.
Liam is called upon to investigate the death of Deirdre Monaghan, a young Adams woman, who was working at the estate of industrialist Alistair Cunningham. Deirdre’s dream was to see the world. She got no further than Pittsfield. Cunningham, a powerful man, wants a quick arrest of the most likely suspect. But Liam wants to make sure that an innocent man is not hung. Liam wants justice.
The title, The Sorrowful Girl, is a reference to the ancient story of Deirdre of the Sorrows. A beautiful child, her foster father wanted her for his own when she was old enough to marry. But she fell in love with a handsome young warrior, and they ran away. The story tells of their pursuit and eventual capture.
If you’re interested in learning more about The Sorrowful Girl, the e-book is free on Amazon from November 17 to November 18. Link: Amazon.com: The Sorrowful Girl: A Liam Barrett Gilded Age Novel (Liam Barrett Gilded Age Novels Book 1) eBook : Powell, Keenan: Kindle Store.
I hope you enjoy it. This is the story of my heart.
PS. As it turns out, my mother’s great aunts were born in the US and never went to Ireland. So they probably never saw leprechauns, but who’s to say?
Biography
Keenan Powell is a Lefty- and Agatha-nominated author. Although she was one of original Dungeons and Dragons illustrators, art seemed an impractical pursuit – not an heiress, wouldn’t marry well, hated teaching – so she went to law school. The day after graduation, she moved to Alaska where she has vowed to practice until she gets it right.
Visit her at: www.keenanpowellauthor.com
www.facebook.com/keenanwrites/
www.instagram.com/keenanpowell/
| www.pinteerest.com/keenanpowell14
HALLIE: Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and wondered where you got your hair/nose/eyes/freckles/... from?
Congratulations, Keenan, on your new book . . . your ancestry search is an amazing story. I'm looking forward to reading the book.
ReplyDeleteDespite being hair obsessed, it never really occurred to me to wonder where it came from. Perhaps I should do a bit of investigating . . . .
Joan, You'll never know what you might find out!
DeleteI had straight-as-a-board hair for the first ten years... now it's wavy like my mother's. Scary.
DeleteHallie, I've never heard of that happening! But, as we age, she said sarcastically, I find that the texture gives added coverage that would otherwise be missed.
DeleteI’m with you Hallie, my hair has gotten wavier (and it’s not just those curly white hairs that have crept in).
DeleteThis is so wonderful and serendipitous, Keenan! Cannot wait to read it. (I look in the mirror every day and see my mother – – more and more. I can’t decide whether it is wonderful or terrifying. But thanks to you, now, it is fascinating, because I had never thought… Why did she look the way until she did? She did not look like her mother at all….)
ReplyDeleteHank, Thanks so much! Who we look like is fascinating to me. My daughter got my mother's eyes. I didn't. How does that happen?
DeleteKEENAN: Your ancestry search and visit to Adams was a great inspiration to write THE SORROWFUL GIRL. Congratulations on writing this historical book.
ReplyDeleteI am an only child and wondered about my looks since I did not resemble my parents at all. We infrequently visited my mother's baby brother when he was doing his post-doc in NJ and then teaching at Penn State University. Ok. I did kind of look like him. His younger daughter, my cousin Maromi, is 8 years younger than me. I did not see the resemblance we she was a kid but when she was a teenager...wow, she could have been my twin!
Grace, Thanks so much. That happened with my youngest daughter and her paternal cousin. We had no idea who she looked like until we put their school pictures together. Fascinating.
DeleteOld photo albums are as rich as DNA results.
DeleteGrace, we now have an actual connection because of your uncle. I grew up in State College, Pennsylvania where Penn State is located and I’m a graduate of Penn State.~Emily Dame
DeleteHallie, I love old photos. The family sends them all to me because I'm the one that does. That's how I scored the photo of my grandpa and his poodle. Another favorite, that is fading quickly, is of my grandfather as a baby with his father and uncle in their Hibernian Brotherhood regalia. No one mentioned they were Hibernians (but whoda thunk it).
DeleteKeenan, I love your photograph. You were adorable! My friend's brother had super curly hair and his friends teased him endlessly.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, I definitely wondered about who was at fault when I looked in the mirror, having a defect that neither parent had. Surgery at 30 corrected it, but my son also needed that surgery as an adult. Not the same problem as curly hair.
Your book sounds amazing. I am in awe that you were one of the original artists for Dungeons and Dragons. My son and a group of friends played it regularly and the artistry is wonderful.
Judy, Thanks so much! I have a copy of an old Peanuts cartoon where Frieda says "People expect more of you when you have naturally curly hair." I quoted that a lot as I grew older. Glad you're enjoying D&D. It's experiencing a huge resurgence, a constant source of amazement to me.
DeleteD&D! She's multi-talented. That and writing take opposite sides of the brain. Supposedly.
DeleteYour book sounds fascinating, Keenan! And what a trip! As for the family lore, my mother told me lots of family "history," though not leprechauns, that I have found was all fiction too. Gotta love ancestry.com.
ReplyDeleteAnnette, Thanks so much. When I was about three years old, I'd decided I was a leprechaun changeling (Not long after a visit from my grandparents. I suspect my grandfather had suggested the idea.). I figured someday my real parents would come to claim me, not having any idea that everyone in the family had the hair so this was my real family. I'm still a little disappointed that I don't have magical powers.
DeleteWe used to tell my younger sister that she was an extra-terrestrial... so mean.
DeleteLOL, Hallie! I told my straight-haired sister she was adopted.
DeleteKeenan, I love this story. I actually didn't realize there was an Adams a couple of hours west of me, only North Adams. How fabulous that you and your cousin were able to dig into your roots. I'm looking forward to reading this new book.
ReplyDeleteI have pictures of my mother and me, both at age three, and we could be twins, so that's never been a mystery, but I'm built more like my dad - short, sturdy, wide fingers and feet, huge head. And one of my sons reminds me so much of one of my cousins.
Edith, Thanks so much! Adams and North Adams was one town when my family first moved there. When my grandfather was young, the family lived in a Victorian across from the street from where The Porches is now, which was later swept away in a flood. Most of the time they lived in Adams. How cool it is you look so much like your mom! There's something comforting in seeing similar faces throughout one's life.
DeleteI stayed in the Porches a few years ago!
DeleteEdith, if I go again, I'll stay there. Looks charming.
DeleteThanks Keenan, enjoyed your ancestry journey.
ReplyDeleteMost of my family resemblance is from my mother's maternal side - having inherited our fair skin from my Irish great-grandmother; my hazel eyes from that side as well.
Dru Ann, Thanks so much! My grandmother had hazel eyes too. None of us inherited them. You're so lucky!
DeleteMy husband had hazel eyes... ditto his mother. Ditto our daughter, granddaughter and grandson. Mine are boring brown, like my dad's and my sisters'.
DeleteBrown is not boring! It's chocolate. It's warmth. It's the color of most dog eyes. I wonder if that makes brown-eyed people seem more friendly?
DeleteSuch a grand tale to start the day, Keenan! My sisters got the curly hair and the fair skin from our Irish-American mother (her father was from Mayo; her mother from Kerry). I take after my father's side of the family (Scots). We share a rich storytelling heritage Throughout my youth, Mom and her siblings and cousins regaled us with countless stories (most handed down) about Ireland. I'm headed back this spring and look forward to that, and also to reading The Sorrowful Girl. Congratulations on its publication!
ReplyDeleteBrenda, Co. Mayo! We must be cousins!
DeleteCongratulations, Keenan! The book sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered where my daughter's blond hair came from. No one in the family is blond, on either side, although my mother told me she was a blonde when she was younger. Turns out that there are a string of cousins on her side who were all blondes when they were kids. Mystery solved.
Thanks, Liz! My father was like that, blonde when he was younger and then dark brown hair when he was older. My mother said it came from his German heritage. As far as I know, none of his descendants inherited that trait.
DeleteI was also very blonde when I was little, and my hair got darker and darker -- until it started going "light" again. My dad's side was all German.
DeleteKaren, there you go. My hair never got dark, but it's "light" now! At the last Bouchercon, someone said I look like a happy little cloud coming across the room.
DeleteMy hair was never blonde, but it is all "sparkly" now. That's what my kids call it.
DeleteOh, and like Hallie, it was straight as a board for my entire life, but ever since I let it go natural, it has a wave to it. Weird.
Highlights by God, Liz.
Delete"Sparkly!" Love that, Liz, going to adopt it:-)
DeleteKaren, LOL.
DeleteDebs, I tell them, "Yes, and every strand was honestly earned."
Same here Liz. When my youngest sister (of 4 kids) was born she had curly (more wavy) dark hair, and more light olive skin. The three of us older siblings are blonde, fair skinned, with freckles. When we went to visit my dads large family in the south she fit right in and looked exactly like they do.
ReplyDeleteMy grandson was born and surprised everyone with red, curly hair. No one has red hair in the family. But we are finding out that when we attend our Jewish Temple how many Jewish kids have red, curly hair. Apparently it is not that uncommon in Jewish families as well as Irish families.
Congratulations on the red, curly headed grandson! He'll never be at a loss for something to talk about with strangers. All my life, people commented on my hair color and texture.
DeleteYup, I know plenty of Jews with red curly hair. It's a thing.
DeleteKeenan, when my grandson was about 4 or so he said to me, "I hate my hair - no one else at school has red hair but me." Shortly afterwards his hair grew out more and the bouncy curls and red color really stood out. Everywhere we went in public, people would stop him and say I love your hair you are so lucky! Now he loves having red curly hair.
DeleteIt's funny how those of us with straight hair all wanted curls (hence permed hair in high school) and those with curly hair wanted straight hair (hence the irons that straightened hair).
ReplyDeleteOh, I've done my fair share of hair straightening. When Michael Jackson made the Jerry curl popular, I suffered through the treatment. Half my hair fell out. As it grew in, I looked like a thistle. I've since surrendered to the hair.
DeleteI’m laughing ….but I imagine that was pretty traumatic.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful backstory to your book, Keenan. I love knowing how an author came to the story they write. As for your aunts and leprechauns: I am choosing to believe they saw them -- and I wonder if those little beings had curly hair!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story and great family history! I am looking forward to reading about The Sorrowful Girl! When I look into the mirror I see my father's mother! I never thought much about eye color when I was growing up, other than to feel cheated that my brother was the only one in the family with blue eyes. I think they must have come from my mother's mother. And now my grandson has those same inherited blue eyes!
ReplyDeleteRecently I learned that DNA has proven that my grandmother's aunt was really her mother! I can think of many possible reasons why this happened but we will probably never know for sure. I also wonder if it was a well-guarded secret or maybe actually known by all, even though it was never talked about.
Judi, what a revelation! 23 & Me and others have revolutionized DNA and genealogy. We enjoy watching Finding Your Roots and so many surprises for families. I think it was African American Michael Strahan who discovered he was related to one of the Kings of England!
DeleteI love watching Finding Your Roots, too, and have often seen names that appear in my family tree, as well as those of the people whose roots they discover on the show.
DeleteJudi, that is amazing. I've often wondered if Yale's genealogy dept (if that is who they use for FYRoots) takes on individual family requests? How much they might charge and if they have references for professionals in other states? I guess I could call to find out!
DeleteLove Finding Your Roots! I haven't seen any of my family names unless you count the royals but that's only if you believe everything on ancestry,com. Both of my father's parents were descended from a Dudley who immigrated to the South a long time ago. (They were third cousins.) It's a bit of a leap from him to Dudley Castle, but if one believes, that makes me descended from Eleanor of Aquitaine and I can live with that. I'm sure there are professionals who would help out with the research. So much of the data is online. What a great post-COVID profession!
DeleteIf you are interested in find a professional genealogist you might get in touch with a local historical society or history museum.
DeleteI'm the only person in our family with green eyes. My mom has dark hazel ones, but out of 30+ first cousins, no one else. My paternal grandmother had very curly hair, and it must have driven her crazy because she had it permed every few months, and then wore a hairnet to keep it in place. She was rarely without it, very attractive, as you can imagine. Went well with her rolled stockings.
ReplyDeleteKeenan, your comic take on your curls reminded me of a woman I knew 20 years ago or so, who embraced her incredibly wooly hair, to the point where she named her pattern company Muttonhead. The drawing of the sheep mascot copied her hair exactly,
You have really done an impressively deep dive into your family history! Our youngest daughter has been working on ours, and next week she and her husband will visit the tiny Hungarian town where my maternal great grandmother and grandfather launched to the US from, my grandma in utero. We saw it on Google Earth, but I can't wait to see her photos, and to see if she can find any birth and death records there.
Thanks so much, Karen! Maybe that little village is filled with green-eyed people! I finally surrendered to the hair. I laughed when you mentioned the hairnet and rolled stockings. It reminded me of my grandmother used to put her hair in pincurls which she protected with a hairnet when she was at home, shuffling around with rolled stockings.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! I know Adams and that part of the world well. I have to book, keenan, and can’t wait to read it. You know I’m a fan!
ReplyDeleteAnd it’s Ellen Byron, not Anonymous.
DeleteThanks, Ellen! Hope you enjoy it!
DeleteCongratulations, Keenan, on The Sorrowful Girl. Going to put it at the top of my TBR tower! LOve the backstory--always been interested in genealogy. And I especially got a chuckle out that line "going to practice until I get it right"! As far as I'm concerned, you've got it right!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Flora! You're the first person to comment on the joke! (Or threat, depending on who you are.)
DeleteThanks, Deanna! What a wonderful variety of eye color. You're lucky with your big toothy smile. I wish I had longer teeth. There's another book in that somewhere.
ReplyDeleteKeenan, I love your hair in your current picture! Doesn’t look Fuzzy Wuzzy at all!
ReplyDeleteMy mom always said that if you have curly hair you want straight and vice versa. I had very straight hair and did indeed try curly perms once or twice in my twenties. Now that mine has gone “natural”, it has body in weird places (flipping where I want it to be straight). Never satisfied, I guess. My sister and I were always told we looked like our father but as I’m aging, I see my mom’s face in the mirror.
Congratulations on your book! Looking forward to reading it! — Pat S
Thanks so much, Pat. I surrendered to the hair a few years ago. I'm seeing my mom in the mirror too. And oh my gosh, if I hear my voice recorded, I'm her! Hope you enjoy the book!
DeleteHaving just spent time in Ireland, and being the great grand daughter of Irish immigrants in CT, this book absolutely resonates. Can't wait to read it, Keenan, and congrats on getting to the "root" of it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jean. Hope you enjoy it, roots and all!
DeleteHave downloaded The Sorrowful Daughter, Keenan, and I'm really looking forward to it. Such a fascinating period in history, and I love the family inspiration. It makes me wish I knew more about mine. My family was all straight-haired blue-eyed brunettes, although my brother was a towhead as a child. I was so jealous that I was never blond! My dad's side of the family was more fair-skinned, my mom's more olive, and I don't regret having inherited that genetic trait. I'm much less likely to sunburn, while my poor brother blistered at the least exposure.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deborah! I do hope you enjoy it. LI listened to your books while I wrote The Sorrowful Girl, hoping to get some of your Duncan and Gemma sensibilities infused into Liam.
DeleteAt my uncle’s funeral we met an out-of-state cousin who looked eerily like my sister. Genetics are a funny thing.
ReplyDeleteLisa, definitely. My cousin and I visited Ireland in 2002. In Dublin, we went to a little tea shop. While she was in the ladies' room, her doppelganger walked past the store front. I was absolutely speechless. When we're isolated as some of us are in the US, it's strange to experience this.
DeleteAs someone who has lamented her hair (except in the 80s when big hair was "in") I loved this post. Good luck with the book Keenan, I know it will be fabulous.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Judy! I rocked the Afro the 70s. But the Farrah Fawcett thing or Princess Di looks were never going to work for me. Alas.
Delete