Author J.M. Duke Chronicles Two Women during the 1960's

Author J.M. Duke aims to capture a time familiar to many and recognizable to those who lived in the South during the period of 1950's to 1960's. Duke says her book "Yes'm" records a period of time and a way of life that has been overlooked.

This book follows the story of Samantha Lee, a girl born into an upper middle class white family in a town divided along racial lines by both railroad tracks and philosophies. As the baby arrives home, she is welcomed into the arms of Pearl, the God-fearing, uneducated black hired help who will eventually become Sammie's confidant, ally, and teacher of life's greatest lessons.

As Sammie matures through the tumultuous 1960s, Pearl makes it her personal mission to deter the girl from a predetermined life of self-importance and bigotry. When Sammie's mother takes a job, Pearl becomes the mother figure in her life, nursing her through illness, teaching her Bible lessons, and sharing life stories. But as the little girl and her caretaker bond, they both struggle with the tension between their love for each other and societal standards. By 1969, Sammie and Pearl find themselves in the same small town, but a very different place from where their epic began.

Although she writes a fictional story, Duke has successfully injected the right amount of history and drop of her life experiences that makes this work a touching and realistic one.

"Yes'm" is a delicate piece that touches on issues that shaped the present day society. Telling a more personal account of the feelings and oppressions the blacks experienced. This book preserves the example of one wise black woman who waged one small battle doing her part to change history.

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About the Author
J. M. Duke was born and raised in a small Virginia village, a junction between two railroads with an approximate 1950s population of three thousand. She was inspired to write "Yes'm" when a lifelong friend asked her why she did not appear in a kindergarten picture. She currently lives in Alabama.

"Yes'm" * by J.M. Duke
Publication Date: October 10, 2013
Trade Paperback; $19.99; 165 pages; 978-1-4836-9732-1
Trade Hardback; $29.99; 165 pages; 978-1-4836-9733-8
eBook; $3.99; 978-1-4836-9734-5

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