Southern Charm

How a Passion for Storytelling Coupled With a Love of Lowcountry Propelled Norcross Novelist Patti Callahan Henry into the Limelight

By Bre Edmonds

What if a woman was forced to embrace the story of her past so that she could write her future? This is the story of Catherine Leary. It is a story that has been taking shape in the mind of Atlanta author Patti Callahan Henry for years. This story has been written and rewritten time after time, stashed away then unearthed years later, only to be restructured and rewritten again. But the story itself — the heart of the novel — has remained unchanged. It is the first story she put to paper eight years ago when she launched her writing career, and the story that, three published novels later, is finally making it to print. It’s “smart” Southern fiction, said Ellen Edwards, her editor with New American Library/Penguin Group — “emotionally engaging but also thought-provoking.” This month, Points North celebrates Henry’s writing, her ability to resonate with women across the South, and the launch of her new book, “Between the Tides.”

The Story Within

Henry, whose circle of friends includes such renowned artists as Atlanta photographer Sandee Oliver Bartkowski and bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe, incorporates her art into all areas of her life, from the décor of her Norcross home to her trendy attire. Even as we talked on a casual Monday night, the mother of three was dressed stylishly in a flowing pink tank top, beige cropped jacket, slim blue jeans and cowboy boots. My compliment to her multi-strand brown beaded bracelet elicited a laugh. “It’s a necklace of my daughter’s,” she said. Even her accessories are reflection of her artistic nature.

But words, and the stories she creates with them, are Henry’s art of choice. As the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Henry has always been in tune to the power of story in her life. The foundations of these stories are most often products of her wandering mind. “I’ll be driving around or in the shower and I’ll think, ‘Oh my gosh, what if …” she said. “And when I listen to people talk, I’ll hear their stories and think, ‘What if it had gone this way?’ ”

Though her books are never based on specific people or occurrences, Henry takes bits of the stories around her and pieces them together to create her tapestries. Her friends are often sources of inspiration, together forming endearing characters that befriend her novels’ protagonists. This is not to say that Henry’s own life never makes it into her work. “When I read Patti’s books, I hear her voice,” Bartkowski said. “Her expressions, her wild hair … something always reminds me of Patti.”

In fact, portions of the tale in “Between the Tides” are reminiscent of Henry’s own story — like Catherine, the story’s lead character, Henry was uprooted from her home in a Mayberry-esque town at the age of 12. But while Catherine’s move transports her from the South Carolina Lowcountry to the foothills of the same state, Henry’s relocation was a bit more drastic — from a small town outside of Philadelphia to the culture shock of South Florida. During the transition, Henry began to use writing as a form of escapism. “It became, even at that young age, a way to make sense of the world,” she reflected. For Henry, stories were redemption.

Lowcountry Belle

Henry may have been born in the North, but she is now the depiction of Southern hospitality. Upon our first meeting, where she invited me into her home, she hugged me warmly. “Say hello to Miss Bre,” she told a tow-headed child smiling shyly from the doorway. (Rusk, 8 years old and the youngest of three, later traded in his quiet disposition for a chattier version, spouting trivia he’s learned at school.) Henry played the hostess as we sat to talk, offering me a bottle of water and a platter lined with grapes, cheese and crackers. Our conversation soon turned to a natural topic for two Southerners who attended rivaling SEC schools, and we engaged in a little friendly banter over our respective alma maters. “War Eagle!” she chanted, laughing, and I consider her northern upbringing just a stepping-stone to becoming a true Dixie woman.

Henry’s stories are equally rooted in the South. “I keep meaning to write a book that’s not set in the Lowcountry!” she exclaimed, as if the setting of her work gravitates by force of nature to the drowsy, intoxicating sea-level land of marshes and estuaries and crab boils on warm summer nights. As a child, Henry spent her summers on Cape Cod, New England’s version of the Lowcountry, albeit cooler in temperature. “Those summers imprinted themselves on me as happy times, so I carried that with me into adulthood,” she said. “When there’s something that feels familiar and good, you want to hand it to others.”

Henry is able to replicate those happy feelings for her children by vacationing each summer on Daufuskie Island off the coast of Hilton Head, where cars are forbidden and Henry is able to escape life’s commotion. It comes as no surprise that this setting finds its way to Henry’s pages, where she brings the Lowcountry to life for her readers, as it is here that she finds her center. “There’s something about getting near the water,” she said. “Your heart just kind of stills.”

Henry admits she could never leave the South; she and her husband, Pat, the senior managing director of Trammell Crow Company’s Atlanta office, are very comfortable in the suburbs of Atlanta, where the mild weather is conducive to year-round sports for their children and the Chattahoochee River runs through their backyard. The literary culture of the city is also very nourishing for a writer; the Atlanta chapter of Romance Writers of America, of which Henry is a member, boasts more than 50 multi-published authors.

The Missing Chapters

Though Henry was on a fast track to authorship when she was young — she penned her first (unpublished) novel, a memoir, before adolescence — she did not deem it a viable career choice when she was in college at Auburn. “It never entered my mind to go into journalism or writing,” she said. “It was all, ‘Do you want to be a teacher or a nurse?’ ”

Henry’s children: Thomas, Meagan and Rusk on Daufuskie Island

Henry chose the latter, a seemingly opposite alternative to her passion for creative writing. On the contrary, Henry’s pediatric nursing career gave her ample opportunity to use her artistic intuition, which was often necessary when diagnosing children. “Yes, science says it either is or isn’t a fever, but at the same time, it’s a very creative process in figuring out what’s really wrong,” she explained.

Henry began to dabble with writing again when she left work to be home with her children, writing short stories and even entering a Writer’s Digest contest. Still, she viewed her art as more of a hobby than a potential career. It was the innocent dream of her then-6-year-old daughter that finally re-ignited Henry’s passion for storytelling. One day, during playtime, Henry asked Meagan, now 14, what she wanted to be when she grew up — “A writer of books,” was the matter-of-fact response. Henry reacted strongly to the glimpse of her former childhood self that she saw through Meagan’s words. “It felt like someone hit me,” she said. “I was almost physically upset for about two days. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

Henry applied the same determination she had used to attain her Master’s in nursing to pursue a career in writing, taking classes and studying books. Five years passed between the time she began and the time she was published, but the hard work paid off. “She did not take on writing as a means to get financial gain, but because she needed a creative outlet for these stories which have been in her for some time,” said her husband Pat. Perhaps her novels resonate so well with readers because Henry's success is defined by her combined role as a gifted and passionate wife, mother and storyteller, all of which allow her heartfelt emotions to spill forth onto the page.

“I’ll never forget when she gave me her first manuscript,” Bartkowski said. “I thought, ‘What if it’s not good?’ What will I say to my wonderful friend?’ After reading the first few pages, I almost cried. My wonderful friend is an amazing writer. Who knew?”

Photos courtesy of Patti Callahan Henry