J.G. Jakes has released her third novel, "The River's End," the climax of the "River's Trilogy," completing the story of the feisty McAllister Lane women. The book finds its dramatic conclusion in the Charleston AME Church shootings in Charleston, South Carolina.
J.G. Jakes is the pen name for Jenny Massey, a retired Bulloch County school teacher originally from Shellman, Georgia. Massey said that her publicist told her, upon the publication of the first in the series, "The River's Edge," that she needed a pen name - something much more "catchy."
"I resisted at first, but then I thought it would be a great honor for my mother and dad. J.G. is my mother's initials, and Jake was my father's name," she said.
Massey got into writing upon her retirement from teaching after 14 years at William James Middle School in Statesboro. She and her husband, Larry, purchased property in Glennville, which is now a working cattle farm. Being on the farm is familiar to Massey, as she was raised on a farm herself. Her father was a farmer, and her mother ran a service station. Since they worked outside the home, Massey was looked after by her grandfather, who she says met her at the bus each day with a Coca-Cola and peanuts.
"I sat on a Coca-Cola grate and ate peanuts, and to entertain me, he would tell me stories," she said. She later found out the stories were all true, and were about her parents.
"It was really the life of my mother and dad," she said.
After his passing, as well as that of her father, Massey was sharing with her mother than she missed her grandfather - and his stories. It was then that her mother encouraged her to write a book.
"There's so much division in our country. People need to understand our roots and where we come from and how we've evolved. And maybe by understanding, it will unite us as a culture, as races," she said her mother told her.
Massey's mother lost her own mom at a young age, and was raised by a woman of color. "She just dearly loved her," Massey said, adding that she didn't feel she was capable of writing. But her mother, who was deeply spiritual, told her she could.
"You can do anything through Christ who strengthens you. You can do this," Massey quoted her mother.
So she set out to tell the stories she'd heard all her life. "The River's Edge" is about the relationship and the pain caused from the conflict of race issues, and focuses on Katie McAllister, described as a very pious young woman who faces a crisis of faith in troubled times. The book begins during the mid-Great Depression era.
"In those days, it was not acceptable in South Georgia. A relationship of that sort was not acceptable," Massey says.
Katie's story is continued in the second book in the series, "The River Rages," which follows from the post-Great Depression through the time of the civil rights era and the march through Selma, Alabama. In this installment, Katie has befriended a young black man named Hoose, who is wrongly accused of a crime, but gets no justice. The character is based on a real story from Massey's father's life.
Hoose's parents were killed when he was very young, and he was taken in and raised by Massey's grandparents.
"In my dad's life, you didn't help someone of color. They had their place and you had yours. But they took him in and raised him. Of course, they were frowned upon, but it didn't matter. They did the right thing," she said.
The third and final book in the series, "The River's End," winds its way from the civil rights era to present day, beginning with the emotionally charged days of integration.
"That is basically based on some of my experiences," Massey says. The book introduces Katie's niece, Hayton, and Rosie, who comes to live with Katie - and just happens to be black. The story finds the two young women dealing with hatred and bigotry.
"Rosie is told, ‘If you want a change, you've got to be a part of the change,'" Massey said. "You've got to do something. Rosie goes to law school and Hayton because a medical doctor and moves to Charleston."
Massey said she was finishing the book when the shootings occurred at Charleston AME Church.
"When I'm writing the end of this book, (Rosie and Hayton) come back together in Charleston, South Carolina. When I'm finishing the last chapter up, right before the Charleston AME Church shootings, and that happens. And I say, I can't end Charleston like this. I'm going into that. So that last chapter is about the Charleston AME Church shooting. They didn't witness it, but it was happening when they were there," she said.
The last thing the two characters do is walk together across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.
"It's just a touching story, all the way through," Massey said.
Massey says one of the most troubling societal issues facing us today is racism, an "unacceptable wrong."
"If one pays attention to the news media and the events that seem to be occurring more and more regularly, it is obvious that our culture suffers from a degree of close-mindedness," she said. "When a young white man enters a black church on a Wednesday night Bible study and guns down nine innocent people, we can no longer dismiss the weakness of our society."
Massey said the "River's Trilogy" may not take away the challenges regarding racism in our society, but she believes that if read with an open mind, it can change people on the inside and empower them to deal with their perceptions of racial problems from God's perception.
"And God's perception is that the ground is level at the foot of the cross," she said. "The sooner we realize that we are all children of God, equal in his eyes, barriers can be crossed. All of us, regardless of race, have a continual harvest to reap, and we should put space between what is deemed to be right and what is considered animosity."
Massey currently has another book in production, "Wings As Eagles," and another three in the works, she said. Her books can be purchased online from Barnes and Noble or Amazon, or on her website at www.jgjakes.com.