The Truth According to Us

Barrows’s novel centers on Layla’s endeavors to chronicle the history of Macedonia, West Virginia, and the challenges she encounters. As such, it is a narrative not only about history but also about historiography—about the process of writing history and its implications. The Federal Writers’ Project was groundbreaking in publishing the first “official” histories of many small towns and socially marginalized areas of the United States. At a historical moment when the wounds of the Civil War were not fully healed, it published eyewitness narratives by formerly enslaved people. At a time when the fear of communism was rife, it was frequently supportive of trade unions and the rights of workers. In short, the FWP often presented history from the perspective of the marginalized and historically voiceless. This constituted a more or less explicit act of rebellion against canonical history as defined by the political right. Rather than presenting “history” in a straightforward manner, the FWP repeatedly asked its readers “whose story” it actually was.

As the novel’s title suggests, historical “truth” depends on the teller, who may be swayed by any number of external social and political forces. Gender dynamics and hierarchies may inform, orient, or limit the scope of historical narratives.