Summer of 2000.In the southwest corner of Michigan, where the Hendersons have been stewards of the land for nearly forty years, experiencing the moments of bounty and despair that come with being fruit tree farmers, Wally Henderson decides one day that he’s ready to retire and move to North Carolina and be near his daughter and grandchildren.
And so begins a one-week odyssey that includes the picking up of a young hitchhiker and his eccentric, obese mother to being a witness in a revival and a bystander to a funeral of a dwarf.Along the way, Ava Henderson comes to realize that her husband’s mind is slowly disintegrating.In this unlikely pilgrimage—the Hendersons and their entourage— are forced to realize that the survival of one depends upon family and the help of strangers.Told mostly through the voice of sixty-seven-year Ava Henderson, but, at times, from her husband and her estranged daughter, Geri, A Hold on Time, is about the mystery of life, the bittersweet strength of love, and how the enduring power of memory can be both a form of failing and survival.
Nancy Simpson had seven of her poems were reprinted in the textbook, Southern Appalachian Poets, edited by Marita Garin at McFarland Press. A new poem, "Carolina Blue Birds" was published in the anthology: The Poets Guide to the Birds at Anhinga Press, edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser. Nancy Simpson's poem, "Grass" will be reprinted in Southern Poetry Review's 50th Anniversary edition in 2009, and two new poems are forthcoming in Solo Cafe, out of California with guest editor Lenard D. Moore. More at www.nancysimpson.blogspot.com
