Before the headlines, before the truth cracked through the silence-there was Carrie Butler. In the shadows of early 20th-century Edgefield, South Carolina-a town steeped in tradition, hierarchy, and secrets-young Carrie Butler lived a life both ordinary and extraordinary. Born into a world that barely acknowledged her existence, Carrie was thrust into the domestic service of one of Edgefield's most powerful families. There, her fate would become entangled with that of Strom Thurmond, a future US Senator and staunch segregationist, in ways history has long ignored. Leaving Edgefield reclaims the voice of a woman history nearly erased. Based on the real-life mother of Strom Thurmond's biracial daughter, this sweeping and lyrical work of historical fiction breathes life into the story of a young Black woman whose resilience becomes her legacy. From the rolling fields of Edgefield to the streets of Philadelphia, from whispered betrayals to whispered prayers, Carrie's journey is one of unyielding spirit in the face of exploitation, loss, and silence. Carolyn W. Hooker paints a deeply moving portrait of a woman who, though deemed invisible in her own time, now claims her rightful place in the American story. For readers of The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, Leaving Edgefield is both a vital act of remembrance and a literary triumph-a tale of heartbreak, dignity, and the quiet defiance of survival. History didn't tell her story. This novel does. "There is scant information to be found about Essie Mae Washington Williams's mother, Carrie Butler, who was a teenager working as a maid in the Thurmond household when she became pregnant. Leaving Edgefield gives voice to Carrie Butler. Carolyn Hooker has written an important story, one that extends to the deepest roots of inequity in the American South and brings to the surface the unacknowledged trauma countless women domestic workers have endured while trying to earn a living in the well-appointed homes of the South's most powerful families." Michele Moore, Author of The Cigar Factory and finalist for the Bellwether Prize for Literature "Carolyn Hooker's Leaving Edgefield is an absolutely beautiful novel, full of unquestionably genuine souls fighting to maintain dignity, faith, and affection in their lives. You will feel their love, fall into their hope, ache from their pain, and experience the fullness of their humanity in this remarkable story about one family's fight to stay together and control their destiny." Jeffery Blount, Author of Mr. Jimmy from Around the Way and winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for African American Fiction "Carolyn Hooker writes with courage, imagination, and keen insight, and the result is a haunting tale of unflinching motherly love despite often crippling powerlessness. From the first page of Leaving Edgefield, there's an urgency in Carrie Butler's story that will stay with readers long after the last, perfectly nuanced sentence. Hooker is a masterful, empathetic story teller and Leaving Edgefield is a triumph you'll not soon forget." Michel Stone, MEd, Author of The Iguana Tree and Border Child "Leaving Edgefield beautifully and authentically depicts the story of Carrie Butler, the mother of J. Strom Thurmond's bi-racial daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams. Until this well-researched work of historical fiction by Carolyn Hooker, no one has told the story of Carrie. Carrie and the people who help shape her life come alive with the depth of hum Carolyn W. Hooker is a South Carolina-based writer and educator whose work explores the intersections of history, identity, and resilience. With Leaving Edgefield, she was moved to reimagine the silenced story of Carrie Butler through careful research and literary imagination, creating a work of historical fiction designed to honor a woman deemed invisible in her own time. Hooker has deep ties to Spartanburg and Charleston, grounding her work in the landscapes where this history still reverberates.