The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap
by
Paulette Mahurin
Paulette Mahurin's debut novel, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap, is available in Kindle edition and in paperback format.
Profits from sales go to The
Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center, the first no kill animal shelter in Ventura
County, California, where Paulette lives.
Description
A women's Brokeback
Mountain. The year 1895 was filled with memorable historical events: the
Dreyfus Affair divided France; Booker T. Washington gave his Atlanta address;
the United States expanded the effects of the Monroe Doctrine to cover South
America; and Oscar Wilde was tried and convicted for gross indecency under
Britain's recently passed law that made sex between males a criminal offense.
When news of Wilde's conviction went out over telegraphs worldwide, it threw a
small Nevada town into chaos. This is the story of what happened when the lives
of its citizens were impacted by the news of Oscar Wilde's imprisonment. It is
a chronicle of hatred and prejudice with all its unintended and devastating
consequences, and how love and friendship bring strength and healing.
Review
When Paulette asked
me to review her novel, it was with great pleasure that I undertook the
project. She is a dynamic person, a great friend and an observant, sensitive
human with whom I have grown quite fond of. Few people I know could pull this
off, that is to stage a story in the events of recent history, 1895, and make
it so poignant for the present. There is great history here, but there is also
so much about our present day societal problems. With all the political turmoil
regarding same-sex marriages, homosexual behavior, and our place in history,
she captures this on the stage of a small Nevada town, and the trying and
impossible situation of this lesbian couple. She reveals our denied prejudices,
and our hidden hypocrisy. It is entertaining and exceptional, she is a true
word-smith that will rivet your attention.
From the Author - On
Writing
From the time I was ten year old, I've loved to write. While in college I
wrote two award winning short stories. This encouraged me to continue to write,
and write I did but never completed any of my novels due to other
responsibilities: education, jobs, family, etc. After attending and receiving a
Master's Degree in the Nurse Practitioner Program at UCLA, I went to work in
the second busiest emergency room in Los Angeles county. I saw and learned
about things that haunted me, until bit by a tick and diagnosed with Lyme
Disease (which went to my heart valves, brain, and muscular skeletal system)
knocked me down and afforded me time to write and release the memories onto
pages before me. I wrote, and wrote, and released what was stored inside, which
finally gave way to a story that was to change my life, The Persecution of
Mildred Dunlap. When I began to feel better, I joined a writing class, in Ojai,
CA, where I live. The teacher, Deb Norton (screenwriter/playwright of The Whole Banana) had us do an exercise
involving a photo. We were to write a 10 minute mystery. The photo I picked was
of two women huddled close together in clothing that looked circa turn of the
twentieth century. I made them a Lesbian couple trying to avoid being found
out. In my research, I came across Oscar Wilde's imprisonment. Britain had
recently changed its laws to make homosexual activity, a man having sex with
another man, a criminal offense resulting in a two year hard labor prison
sentence. The combination of the photo from that writing class and Oscar
Wilde's imprisonment were the seeds that started the story, six years in the
making. For those six years, I studied Wilde, the history of Lesbians, western
settlement in the United States, and I opened to what it must have been like to
live in fear of being persecuted because of the nature of one's existence, that
can no more be changed than the color of grass. As I wrote, I saw myself in the
characters who I dialogued with, related with as if we were friends today, and
in doing this I learned that external factors may change (the environment,
technology, family relating, etc.) but the nature of the human condition and
how we manifest remains the same. There will always be stories to tell, to
write, to read, to appreciate, because we invest in literature from our
humanness, our emotional composition, and we relate to the imagery created with
narrative and dialogue that suit our preferences. We are drawn in, over and
over and over again, to similar story lines, themes, sequels, because of this
human experience--that in sitting down before a book or eBook we are
transcended out of our ordinary lives to magical places that written words
create, no matter how similar or repetitive the story, because, after all, we
are all living, breathing, stories.
I hope you read and enjoy my story.
From the Author - On
Rescuing Dogs
My husband and I have been rescuing Rottweilers for the last
twenty-eight years. When Tazzie, our last one, died at the age of
fifteen plus years, it left a huge hole in my heart. She had been through the
worst years of my life with me, a life altering long bout with Lyme
Disease, and there were days when looking at her was all that gave
me motivation. After her death, we went to a kill shelter to look at
another Rottie puppy that had been thrown away, and still with a heavy
heart I couldn't bear to see all the dogs behind bars, looking so
depressed, awaiting their death sentence in this kill shelter. I became
compulsive about wanting to help, yet not knowing how to. This was around
the time I finished my novel, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap. It was
also around the time I first heard of the plans to open the first
no-kill animal shelter in Ventura County, where I live. It was a no
brainer for me to want to support this. I contacted the shelter
and told them I wanted to have the profits from my book go to help them,
and so began my journey in doing what I can to help avoid the
tragedy of animals being put to death for no reason, other than they
were born. The shelter is The Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center.
About the Author
Paulette Mahurin is a Nurse Practitioner who lives in Ojai, California
with her husband Terry and their two rescued dogs, Max and Bella. She practices
women’s health in a rural clinic and writes in her spare time. She also taught
in several college level nursing programs, including UCLA, where she had a
Master's Degree in Nursing from their nurse practitioner program. Her two
passions are writing and rescuing dogs. While in college she wrote and
published two award winning non-fiction short stories. The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap is her first novel.
For further insights, you can read an interview with the author.
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