We are very fortunate to live in the lovely city of Greenville, South Carolina. I moved to the city in 2007, after years of living in several cities around the country, working as a broadcast new journalist, and eventually, a digital news managing editor.
We ended up living in a neighborhood just north of the downtown that is referred to as “North Main.” Our home is at the bottom of the Elizabeth Street hill. You get there by taking a left on Garraux Street off of North Main Street.
And those street names and a lot of curiosity ended up leading to a year spent researching and writing this novel.
There is a small island of land at the bottom of the Elizabeth Street cul-de-sac that some neighbors decided to make into a play area for children.
After they added a sandbox, seating and some plantings, they announced that the park area would be called “Dowling Memorial Garden,” after a family who had lived on Elizabeth Street for three generations.
I remembered hearing that it was the Garraux family who originally settled the neighborhood, so putting two-and-two together, I guessed that maybe the name Elizabeth went with Garraux. A few Google searches and a trip to the historical resource room at the library, and I confirmed that the streets were, in fact, named for Elizabeth Garraux, a woman who moved here with her family almost 150 years ago.
And it only took a few more hours of research before I started finding curiosities and amazing information that convinced me Elizabeth’s story needed to be a book — and it also convinced me to keep researching until I discovered why Frederick’s name disappeared from all records and articles.
April 2024 Update:
“When He Was Gone” is in the hands of a publisher, and has been edited, type set and the cover is designed! It is expected to be printed by June 2024 and available for sale this summer! I will update in this blog as soon as it is available for purchase.