In West Mills

In West Mills is a historical fiction novel published in 2019 by De’Shawn Charles Winslow. Set in the southern United States, the novel follows several characters in the fictional town of West Mills, North Carolina from 1941 to 1987, addressing themes related to race, family, and social change. Winslow received a Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an American Book Award for In West Mills. In an interview with Noreen Tomasi, Winslow recalls workshopping early drafts of the novel in a class taught by Ethan Canin, author of The Palace Thief, Emperor of the Air, and "Star Food" (Tomassi Noreen, "De'Shawn Charles Winslow Discusses In West Mills with Noreen Tomassi." The Center for Fiction).

Plot Summary

In West Mills introduces protagonist Azalea “Knot” Centre in 1941. Her longtime boyfriend, Pratt Shepherd, leaves her and the town of West Mills behind after she rejects his offer of marriage. Knot is an alcoholic who prizes her independence above all else. A few months later, Knot finds she is pregnant with his child. Pretending she has the pox, Knot keeps the pregnancy a secret from almost everyone. Her friends and neighbors, Otis Lee and Penelope “Pep” Loving, help deliver Knot’s baby and, at Knot’s request, find a couple in the neighborhood to adopt the child.

Soon after giving birth, Knot receives a letter from her mother saying that her father is ill. She hurries home only to find that that the letter was a ruse. Knot’s mother wanted to see if Knot had given birth, as stated in an anonymous note she received—a note later revealed to be written by Pep. Disapproving of Knot’s actions, her parents tell her not to come back, and she never sees them again, although she maintains some contact with her sisters.

After returning to West Mills, Knot flirts with a man passing through town whom she knows only as William, and he stays with her for several days. In May 1943, she gives birth to a second daughter, fathered by William. Otis Lee and Pep once again help her find a local couple to adopt the baby. Knot watches both of her children grow up from a distance.

Complications ensue 17 years later when Knot’s daughters, Fran Waters and Eunice Manning, fall in love with the same boy: Otis Lee and Pep’s son, Robert “Breezy” Loving. Pep finds Fran and Eunice fighting over Breezy in her yard one night. She and Otis Lee scold him, but he continues to see both women. Within the next two years, Fran and Eunice both give birth to Breezy’s children, and although he marries Eunice, Breezy carries on an affair with Fran.

A few years later, Fran’s adoptive parents die. After the funeral, Fran reveals that Pep told her and Eunice that Knot was their mother the night she found them fighting. Knot confronts Pep, who chastises Knot for trying to control her children’s lives after leaving them to be raised by others. When Fran gives birth to another child in 1966, Knot suggests that she leave Breezy to Eunice. Fran explains that Breezy married Eunice with her permission to secure money to support his parents, whose health and careers are in decline.

In 1975, Pep and Otis Lee are surprised to see Pratt for the first time since he left. Afterwards, Pratt visits Knot, but she doesn’t tell him that Fran is his daughter. Over the next year, Pratt moves back to West Mills and begins spending most of his time with Knot. After Pratt hears that Knot once had the pox, he asks her about it, and she reveals that Fran is his daughter. They visit Fran, who is not surprised by the news.

12 years later, Knot, who continues to drink heavily throughout her life, is admitted to the hospital. She dies a few weeks later, after receiving visits from many friends and family members, including Eunice’s son.

Interwoven with Knot’s life story is Otis Lee’s journey of discovery. At the beginning of the novel, Otis Lee believes that the two female relatives who live with him and Pep are his mother and grandmother. In fact, they are his grandmother and great-grandmother. His mother Essie, whom he believes to be his sister, lives in New York where she passes as White. As a teenager, Otis Lee went to New York to try to convince her to come back to West Mills but was unsuccessful. Many years later, she visits him in West Mills and begins to tell him that she was sent to New York against her will, but he cuts her off. While Knot is in the hospital, Otis Lee learns that Essie died and left him an inheritance. He travels to New York to collect it. There, he finally learns that she was his mother. Knot, who learned the truth long before from her friend Valley but never told Otis Lee for fear of hurting him, tells Pep about Essie on her deathbed. By the time Otis Lee returns from New York, Knot is dead.