Meet Sydney Avey, Author of The Sheepwalker’s Daughter

Half Truth

I grew up in my grandmother’s dance studio in Los Altos, CA. A small, dark-eyed woman with high cheek bones that gave credibility to her claims of a trickle of Cherokee blood, she thrilled me with half truths about her life. She told stories about her New York stage performances, the death of her young husband, her struggles to raise a daughter and support herself teaching dance in Oregon, her second husband, and her second daughter, my mother.

My mother contributed her own half truths about her grandmother who left a Kansas prairie farm and a marriage to forge the life she wanted for herself, taking her girls and leaving her boy with his father. These three generations of women ended up living together for a time. They rubbed against each other in ways that form character and foster grievances.

“Blood is thicker than water,” my mother would tell me in an effort to foster circle-the-wagons values I did not possess. I sensed that there was a larger community I belonged to. My family did not attend church, but my grandmother taught me the Lord’s Prayer and dropped me off at a variety of church services.

Does it really matter whose blood runs through your veins? Does it matter where you came from? I eventually found my identity in Christ, but I never lost my fascination with the missing pieces in my family story.

I wrote The Sheep Walker’s Daughter to explore the emotions of a woman whose ethnic heritage has been kept from her. How much truth does one generation owe another? When a branch of the family tree is cut off, what is the cost to future generations?

My main character Dolores reaches a quiet crisis in her mid forties after her mother takes secrets about the family identity to the grave. A career woman, Dee has raised a daughter and buried a husband with little family support and no knowledge of God’s love. It seems as if the loneliness she has lived with for years is destined to be her only companion.

Loneliness is like an ill fitting jacket we’ve grown used to. It may not be right for us but taking off something familiar to try on something new exposes us in ways we naturally resist. As an author, I made demands of testy Dolores. I insisted that she let go of old habits that did not serve her well and try new experiences that would ignite her passion. She surprised me with her courage to pursue faith, her openness to friendship and her saucy approach to love—all attributes that her mentor Father Mike encouraged her to develop.

We only find whole truth in the love of Christ. We encounter that truth within the families He places us and the people he puts on our path.

About Sydney

Sydney Avey lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Yosemite, California, and the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a lifetime of experience writing news for non profits and corporations. Her work has appeared in Epiphany, Foliate Oak, Forge, American Athenaeum, and Unstrung (published by Blue Guitar Magazine). She has studied at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. Sydney blogs at sydneyavey.com on topics related to relationships, legacy, faith, and the writing life. Find her new novel, The Sheep Walker’s Daughter on Amazon. ISBN 978-1-938708-19-0 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-938708-20-6 (ebook). Publication: December 3, 2013. ISBN 978-1-938708-30-5 (audiobook). Publication: November 8, 2013

About The Sheep Walker’s Daughter

A Korean War widow’s difficult mother dies before revealing the identity of Dee’s father. As Dee sorts through what little her mother left, she unearths puzzling clues that raise more questions: Why did Leora send money every month to the Basque Relief Agency? Why is Dee’s own daughter so secretive about her soon-to-be published book? And what does an Anglican priest know that he isn’t telling? The Sheep Walker’s Daughter pairs a colorful immigrant history of loss, survival, and tough choices with one woman’s search for spiritual identity and personal fulfillment.

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