Allen Mendenhall’s latest book, “A Glooming Peace This Morning,” centers on Tommy Cox, a young man with an intellectual disability, and Sarah Warren, the charming belle of high society. Their fateful encounter is anything but ordinary: a mysterious illness draws them together, sparking an illicit romance that will set an entire town ablaze.
As their love flourishes in the shadows, a heated trial ensues, forcing the community to confront its prejudices and biases. At its core, the case hinges on one critical question: did Tommy possess the intent required by law to be found guilty of the charges against him?
In this interview, Allen shares the setting of the 1970s and its influence, his take on the case, and its effect on the community.
How does the setting of the 1970s influence the story?
Characters should speak and act within their historical context, not according to standards that couldn't or didn't exist in their era. The social and cultural norms of the rural South during the 1970s define and constrain my characters. Cephas, my narrator, is prejudiced against Northerners and talks in a manner that's unfamiliar and unnatural to most contemporary readers. It's important to note that this is a look-back novel, a coming-of-age story, and Cephas is an adult relating his memories of childhood. Readers should question whether he's reliable.
What about Tommy and Sarah’s romance is illicit?
Because Tommy is older than 18 and Sarah is younger than 18. Their sexual union violates statutory rape law and not just values and conventions.
The story asks the question of whether Tommy “had the intent required by law to be found guilty of the charges against him.” As someone with a legal background, what’s your take on this?
I don't know. I wanted to complicate circumstances to raise difficult questions about justice and injustice, individualism and collectivism, fate and free will, to provoke readers to think and debate the goodness or badness of the trial. I didn't want to make a political point except in the broadest sense.
Who is the narrator and what’s their perspective on this story?
Cephas is a disenchanted adult male whose knowledge of the law is derived from his father. The story of Sarah and Tommy haunts him. He presents memories of childhood as a tragedy in the tradition of the ancient Greeks. Prone to overstatement, he's largely responsible for the events that he seems to blame on others. He's part of the very multitude that he hates.
How does the story force the town to confront its prejudices? What is the result (if this won’t spoil the story).
Cephas portrays the town as a monolithic collective. Readers can determine for themselves whether his depiction seems reliable. The town operates as an undifferentiated unit with a shared purpose and isn't fully aware of its prejudices. When I say this story is tragic, I mean it in the literary and historical sense, so you can probably guess what that portends for the town, which is irreparably damaged by Sarah and Tommy's sad fate.
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