Rehoboth Author to Publish 14th Novel This Fall
Rehoboth Beach has quite a literary party
in store sometime next fall. The celebration will mark the expected
publication of the latest novel by hometown author and Rehoboth Beach
literary icon Sarah Aldridge.
The book, O, Mistress Mine is
Aldridge’s 14th novel, and one that has taken several years to
complete. Set on a university campus, the story skillfully blends an
examination of a complex lesbian relationship with impassioned points of
view on some very contemporary social topics. And, it’s the book’s
contemporary themes which make this impending publication event so
noteworthy.
Noteworthy, because Sarah Aldridge is the
pen name and alter-ego of South Rehoboth resident Anyda Marchant, who,
at age 92, has an enthusiasm for writing and a delight in voicing her
very strong opinions that would exhaust a person one-third her age.
 Wintering
in Lighthouse Point, FL, Anyda relaxes in the living room of her sunny
home, with a cardboard box holding dozens of legal pads at her feet.
“That’s the first draft,” she says of the book she scribed and
revised in longhand. “It’s just between me and the paper.”
All of Anyda’s books began that way,
the penmanship then transferred to typewritten pages by Muriel Crawford,
Anyda’s partner of 54 years. Working as a team, the women have been
navigating the world of writing and publishing for as long as many of
Sarah Aldridge’s readers have been alive.
“It’s been fun,” says Muriel of the
literary collaboration.
All of the Aldridge books are still
available, and Anyda receives letters from readers on a fairly regular
basis. “I think people have an emotional response to my books because
I write honestly. I have been touched when I get letters from women who
see themselves in the fictional characters.”
Over the years, Anyda’s writing has
taken place in both Rehoboth and Florida, with that cardboard box being
precious cargo on the couple’s auto trips up and down the east coast.
A staunch feminist (“My mother was a
feminist, my father was a feminist, it’s just the way I am.”) Anyda
uses her novels to express her opinions. But she stresses the fact that
these are fictional characters speaking non-fiction ideas.
“The books have a thorough feminist
basis,” Anyda says. “I know there are lesbians who claim they
aren’t feminists, but I think that’s ridiculous!”
A long-time admirer of writer Virgina
Woolf, Anyda belongs to two Virginia Woolf societies and has a centenary
poster celebrating the famed writer hanging in her home.” I started
reading her in the 1920s. I had a first American edition of Mrs.
Dalloway. I was 14 years old and I was just thunderstruck!”
While she hasn’t yet seen the film The
Hours, she expounds on her love of Mrs. Dalloway and points to a letter
in one of her latest Woolf journals. The writer chastises the readership
for not wanting to come to terms with Woolf’s lesbian issues, and that
delights Anyda. “You know, Virginia Woolf said ‘Only women stir my
imagination,’” Anyda says with a twinkle in her eye. “Of course,
my books are fiction, but the ideas come from my opinions. When I want
to make a point, I do it through a novel.”
And while Anyda’s novels have always
had a feminist perspective, she admits that in the past she’s felt
inhibited by “being a lesbian trying to adapt to a heterosexual
readership.”
For this latest opus, Anyda says she’s,
“liberated herself a few more steps,” and has allowed herself to
infuse her characters with a great many of her own opinions.
“I’m a bookish person myself, so I
wrote this book with an academic setting,” she says, noting that
“the main character is my voice, but she’s not me. But she does
speak many of my thoughts.”
And those thoughts include views on
“far right” organized religion, same-sex marriage and adoption,
abortion, and discrimination.
Exactly what Sarah Aldridge’s
characters have to say on these topics will be revealed with the
publication of O, Mistress Mine. But since Anyda calls herself “an
Episcopalian, but a thinking one,” and has plenty to say about
politics, same-sex relationships, and coming out issues, the novel is
sure to set off some sparks.
In the meantime, Anyda and Muriel are
enjoying their Florida winter, spending time reading, feeding the birds
which flock to their patio, and entertaining visiting friends. When they
return to Rehoboth at the end of this month, they will resume their
literary and social salon Saturday afternoons on the spacious front
porch of their old Rehoboth home.
“I expect this will be my last
novel,” Anyda says, “so I wanted it to be a statement.”
Last novel? Don’t count on it. A
statement? Definitely.
We will keep readers posted about a
publication date for Sarah Aldridge’s O, Mistress Mine.
Meanwhile, Anyda Marchant is still
excited about writing and writers. “The fact that people can put
ordinary words on paper and produce their point is what I love the most.
It’s about intellectual integrity. It’s about moral values. ”
You tell them, Anyda!
Editor’s note: To learn more about
Sarah Aldridge’s books, log on to www.SarahAldridge.com.
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