Originally published on April 1, 2021 11:10 am
“Pop: An Illustrated Novel” is a new book by author Robert Gipe, set in a fictional central Appalachian county during the runup to the 2016 elections with parts of the plotline connected to the 2014 West Virginia Water Crisis.
Eric Douglas spoke with Gipe from his home in Harlan, Kentucky to find out more about the story.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas:
Tell me a little bit about “Pop.” Tell me how you came to write this book.
Gipe: The book is set in Eastern Kentucky and East Tennessee and in Charleston. It concerns a woman who's been the protagonist of two prior books, Dawn Jewel, who grew up in Eastern Kentucky. In my first novel, she was the 15-year-old narrator. And now she has a 17-year-old daughter. It's set in the run up to the 2016 election. Dawn's husband works for a chemical company that is selling “coal float” to a coal company in West Virginia.