Two of a Kind Heart

by Nanci Griffith

In Two of A Kind Heart Nanci Griffith tells the story of a young girl and woman Kerry Evans, growing up in Austin in the late '60's and early '70's. Her family's roots are in the dusty flatlands of the West Texas Panhandle. . Those West Texas roots help Kerry maintain her balance in the midst of so much change going on around her, sexual, political, social--change which she wants to get out to explore and experience, choosing to express her feelings by writing stories and songs, Led by her great grandfather, Kerry gets to Saratoga Springs, NY, where she writes for a counter-culture newspaper and connects with her soul mate Margaret, a freedom loving, life affirming poet. Kerry finds romance in the folk music scene of Greenwich Village and experiences real life politics at a demonstration against the Vietnam war in Washington, D.C.
Finally, she comes back to Texas to write about the local music scene for a paper in Houston. Kerry also comes back to family and her first love, but she has changed--as have they.
The story is as much as anything about Kerry's coming to terms with how to maintain one's independence and still form meaningful relationships. There is the need to love and be loved and the need to be alone and on one's own, with the loneliness it entails. It's a balance she will always keep searching for and writing about. "Let's go to New York City!" is the cry for Kerry and Margaret to live life on their terms, trusting that their roots and family will keep them coming home.

Genres: Fiction

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Nanci Caroline Griffith is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanci_G...

Reviews

[Sab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nanci Griffith, famed Texan singer-songwriter and activist, wrote two rough-draft novels that she kindly provided to her website. She still talks about seeking an editor and publisher for the novels, but for now, the web is the only place to read them. The first, "Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War)" used to be up on Rob Schrull's site but is down now. You can, however, read Two of a Kind Heart

ToaKH starts with the love between Edgar and Leola, coming up through the Great Depression in West Texas, and then moves on to Leola's daughter Julie and Julie's children, Raleigh, Ethel, and Kerry. Ethel is the sister straight out of Nanci's song "Drive-in Movies and Dashboard Lights," (Baez songs, Monroe hair, heavy of thigh and light on integrity), and Kerry grows up to be a semi-autobiographical version of Griffith herself.

Kerry is an activist and folk singer who moves to Saratoga Springs to live with her ailing step-great-grandfather and his activist friends, who publish a magazine on which Kerry is hired as music editor. Through these left-wing folks Kerry learns about American values, and one of the most significant parts of the second half of the novel deals with Kerry and her magazine team heading to Washington to march in protest of the Vietnam war.

Though the novel is written in simplistic, almost immature twangy Texan prose, it reads like a song, and like a song it's somehow more powerful than the sum of its words. The women of the story are much more significant than the men, and Kerry experiences love and loss and leaves the story a stronger, more confident woman out to seek her life, unburdened by a man but confident she'll find love again someday.

This is a three-star book that gets four stars from me because it exists in my head only as part of the Nanci Griffith canon -- the rest of the stories she's told in her songs and interviews, and it's all one big tribute to America, peace, love, and family. Lines in the novel are taken wholesale from her songs (or vice-versa) and the themes are consistent and progressive through all her work. Quite literally, driving down to NYC with her friend, Kerry says, "there's lights beyond these woods, Margaret." Which, if you're a Nanci Griffith fan, says everything it needs to say.

[Thad Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It moved quickly through family history and I sometimes had trouble keeping up with who was who. I think there was a lot of Nanci Griffith in the character Kerry Foster. I recommend this book.

[SHARON Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just knew all along that Mary Margaret was real! A real, true, lifelong friend of Nancy's. This is their story and it's lovely...as women's friendships tend to be, loving, true, sincere and ever so necessary to each other's wellbeing. They share their thoughts and dreams, their sorrows and pain, their joy and laughter, and, yes, even their bad habits! It does my heart good to know Nancy had that kind of friend throughout her too short life. And that she shared it so willingly with us in this book.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a huge fan of Nanci Griffith's music for 40 years and had heard about this unpublished novel previously, never expecting to actually have the chance to own and read it. A big surprise awaited me on Christmas this year when my wife gave it to me, as it has been recently published by Griffith's long-time record producer. What a treat to read this one! It contains so much of Nanci Griffith's early voice, and the main character, Kerry, is obviously modeled to some degree on Nanci herself and her early upbringing and development as a writer. As the liner notes indicate, the novel was never edited or worked on by Griffith after having finished it, and the lack of cleaning up, editing, and strengthening of the story and dialogue are all obvious. But it is simply a pleasure to read and a worthwhile addition to Nanci Griffith's canon. She sadly died too young, but she left a wonderful heritage of stories and songs to all of us.

[Sarah Wasserman · Rating 4 out of 5]

as someone very familiar with nanci’s life through her music, I found the book interesting as an exploration of her past. it’s clear the characters are heavily based on real people, which I enjoyed since it felt like getting to see “behind the curtain.” there are times the writing is clunky, but I didn’t find it particularly distracting. would recommend to anyone who loves her music!

[James Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish Griffith had published this while she was alive and had the chance to work with a professional editor. It could have been so much tighter. Still, I enjoyed it. In the best ways it reminded me of Larry McMurtry.