Ask the Author: Michele McKnight Baker
Answered Questions (3)
Michele McKnight Baker
Readers of Soldier's Heart have been urging me to begin writing a sequel, and so I have begun Storytellers.
Michele McKnight Baker
My professional background includes journalism, research, and teaching. I love finding and telling a good story, especially one that was untold and sheds new light on a subject. And I love giving voice to individuals and groups who have been marginalized or misunderstood. In this multi-cultural, generational saga, we hear from the women and children.
Twelve year old Junior Thompson’s clear-eyed truth-telling introduces us to a soldier suffering from “soldier’s heart” (the Civil War term for what we now know as post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD) and his shocking actions during a church service, on April 9, 1865, the day Lee surrenders to Grant.
Twelve year old Junior Thompson’s clear-eyed truth-telling introduces us to a soldier suffering from “soldier’s heart” (the Civil War term for what we now know as post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD) and his shocking actions during a church service, on April 9, 1865, the day Lee surrenders to Grant.
Michele McKnight Baker
The true story behind Soldier's Heart had been waiting 150 years to be discovered! We found documents in a chest in my parents' basement dating back as early as the 1690s. The Civil War period was especially rich: letters from soldiers, Matthew Brady photos, even slave freedom (manumission) documents. Soldier's Heart is inspired by the untold true story of the Thompsons, a black family, and the Hendersons, a white family, who lived as landowners and neighbors in Carlisle, PA. I am the Hendersons' direct descendant.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more