What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?

Tula Pendleton: The Life and Work of a Forgotten Southern Writer is the story of a woman born in a Kentucky village in 1872 who became a successful short story writer in the 1910s. But tragically, as Tula’s career blossomed, her husband became incapacitated by asthma, and the two committed double suicide in 1924. This book, written and researched by Tula Pendleton’s great-niece, recounts her life and collects her stories for the first time.

Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?

Readers interested in Southern literature, the psychology of women, and the South after the Civil War will find this book intriguing and stimulating.

Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?

This is my first book! I began it knowing only the barest of facts about Tula Pendleton’s life. I worked for eight years researching her family and her life, finding all of her published stories, and unearthing letters in archives in Kentucky and Virginia. As a retired psychoanalyst, I worked to understand the conflicts, tensions, and major decisions Tula faced.

Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most? If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?

Yes! I look forward to meeting people who are passionate about books and curious to learn about a forgotten Kentucky writer.

Barbara Pendleton Jones is a retired psychologist living in Virginia. This volume, researched and written by Tula’s great-niece, relates with empathy and insight the remarkable story of Tula’s life. It also collects, for the first time, all of her extant stories.