Athens author explores 1980s era Little Five Points in new novel

Athens author Deidre Ann deLaughter takes the reader to a place she knows well in her second novel planned for a release on Friday on the Oconee campus of the University of North Georgia.

The launch party for “A Rose in Little Five Points” begins at 5 p.m. and is open to the public at UNG in Watkinsville.

Little Five Points is a neighborhood in Atlanta near Freedom Park.

“When I was growing up in Atlanta, it was kind of a Bohemian area, but way back in the day it was where the rich people built their houses,” deLaughter said in a recent interview.

The story is set in the 1970s and 1980s and revolves around main character Meredith Fields, a 25-year-old woman who finds herself in what deLaughter described as a “dynamic period of this country’s history.”

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“The Vietnam War is ending. The AIDS crisis is coming to the forefront. Integration. A lot is happening,” deLaughter said.

From the author’s viewpoint of those day, Little Five Points was in a period of transition from a time of neglect.

There was white flight to the suburbs and the area fell into decline, but by the mid-1970s young families were moving into the homes and a revival was occurring, she said.

“In that neighborhood, if you were a part of the urban renewal, they would have a butterfly flag hanging from their house, an indication you were part of this gentrification of the neighborhood,” she said.

“There were cultural norms that were really being challenged by the young generation. Meredith wants to be conventional, but life makes her think outside the box and examine those cultural norms,” she said.

deLaughter’s first novel was published in 2012, “Reawakening Rebekah: The Gift of the CLAMOR Girls.”

For her new novel, deLaughter’s book contains a blurb from one of Georgia’s beloved authors, Terry Kay, who grew up on a northeast Georgia farm. He died in 2020. Kay wrote many such blurbs to help writers in their careers.

“When he was undergoing chemo, he checked on me. Invited me to the house and encouraged me. He read a rough draft of the manuscript and really liked it,” she said.

“I grew up in Atlanta and I met Terry and Tommie (Kay’s wife) when we were all members of Druid Hills United Methodist Church,” she said.

Kay’s influence as a mentor remains.

“Some of the other characters just came to me. A character named Magda, who is her neighbor, became a dear friend,” deLaughter said. “One thing Terry taught me is if you get stuck, add another character. The character might not end up staying, but it helps you go in a different area.”

deLaughter, the daughter of an U.S. Air Force officer, was born when her parents were stationed in England, but at 9 months of age, they moved back to the states. While she grew up in Atlanta, she has lived in Athens for the past 22 years, retiring in 2023 from UNG as the director of learning support for developmental education.

Now that she is retired from the world of academia, she is creating characters who are taking her in other directions. A third novel is in the works, the author said.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens author unveils new novel on Oconee campus of UNG