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Podcast: Art Works Podcast
Episode: "The Waters": A Conversation with Bonnie Jo Campbell
Description: Bonnie Jo Campbell discusses her novel, "The Waters," its fictional setting in Southwest Michigan, and the focus on the intricate dynamics within a family of women living in a swamp: Hermine, the herbalist grandmother; her restless daughter, Rose Thorn; and Rosie’s mathematically gifted daughter, Dorothy. Campbell discusses how the landscape shapes the characters' identities and lives, reflecting the struggles and changes in rural American communities. The women are outsiders in their own town, facing suspicion and blame from the men who feel displaced and troubled by the changing times.Campbell also explores the novel’s use of fai...