Due East from Elizabeth's house (and mine)
The book takes place in December -- a dark season. Elizabeth is also going through a bit of a 'dark night of the soul.' The floating bed hints at the 'magic' afoot in the novel. (At least, that's my interpretation.)
Statues in Asheville reminding us of tthe thousand of hogs (and other livestock) that passed through the center of town in the heyday of the Drovers' Road.
The great droves followed along the banks of he French Broad.
The road ran through "Ransom", which had a stand house at either end -- one owned by Zeb Vance's father. The modern day railroad was laid atop the Drover's Road.
An engraving from the period.
Sherrill's Inn in Fairview, NC -- one of the few remaining stand houses, at least as far as I know,
This old house sits more or less where I imagine the Gudger's Stand house.
I imagine the Gudger's Stand house to look more like this -- only twice as long with porches wrapping all around.
The upper porch, where the book begins.
The real life inspiration for Nola's house in Dewell Hill.
The home of Thos. Blake, aka 'The Troll'
The silo -- in the book it's much taller and inside it . . . ah, but that would be telling.
I'm told this was a root cellar for a now vanished house. To me it's the jail where Lydy and the Professor are languishing.
Up on Old Baldy where Lydy's journey begins
He looks out and yearns to cross the distant mountains
He follows the branch down the mountain
To the ferry across the river
Lydy crosses the river to the house at Gudger's Stand
Meanwhile, back in the present day . . .
Elizabeth's view east
Elizabeth's farm looks a lot like ours
So does her house
The road requires four wheel drive
Ben's cabin -- once Little Sylvie and Mr. Tomlin lived there. (Sadly, in the real world, it's falling down)
Julio and Omero live here but in the new book, they've returned to Mexico for the holidays. (In my world, my younger son and his girlfriend live here)
The inside of Elizabeth's house is a lot like mine; her Christmas tree is too
Elizabeth's little James is patterned after my William
And Ursa is very much like Bear.
Elizabeth's Molly is my Maggie. Miss Susie Hutchins the tuxedo cat has not her equal, in fiction or in real life
Nor has Eddie. Unlike me, Elizabeth is cat free, at least so far. Two other characters in DARK SEASON are true cat people.
Dawn at the Winter Solstice -- the anniversary of Sam's death and a difficult day for Elizabeth
Elizabeth and Phillip take a drive to Max Patch
And there in the fairy tale setting, something happens . . .
I hope these picture add to your enjoyment of the story
