How does a community move on after unspeakable tragedy? Author Rebecca Davis explores this question in her debut novel “Amidst This Fading Light” (SFK Press/2018). The historical fiction book is loosely based on a 1929 murder in Davis’ small hometown of Germanton, North Carolina.
Davis first started writing about the gruesome story in college, and as her fascination continued, her approach to telling the story evolved. In the novel, she sets the work in the fictional, rural piedmont town of Germantown against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Host Frank Stasio talks to Davis about the inspiration behind this book, her writing style, and what she is working on next. Davis is an affiliated assistant professor of creative writing at Salem College in Winston-Salem.
