The Setting is Personal by Danette Vigilante
It might come as no surprise that my two books, The Trouble
with Half a Moon and Saving Baby Doe, take place in a public housing project
since I grew up in one. It feels a tiny bit like cheating, but I had my
reasons.
Sometimes growing up in public housing marks you as somehow
being āless thanā by society. Outside of my neighborhood, this plagued me, but
at home, amongst my friends and neighbors, none of that existed. I was
surrounded by a village made up of good, hard working people who cared not only for their own
families, but for their neighbors as well.
Does this mean I lived in a perfect world? Not at all and
when I began writing, I knew I needed to show what living in public housing is
really like. The truth? Itās absolutely no different than living in any other
neighborhoodā including the ābadā and the good.
I completely agree with you that the setting IS personal! Beautiful post, Danielle.
ReplyDeleteArgh! I was typing without enough caffeine! Sorry Danette--I inadvertently typed "Danielle"!
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