Faith, family, friendship, inner strength, and courage are all at the forefront of La Jolla resident Barbara Burton’s (aka Barbara Graf) debut novel, “A Walk Down Rushville.”
The title follows the main character Skyler Bennett’s journey from a small Southern California town to her hometown in North Carolina, and finally to her father’s birthplace in Ischia, Italy. After witnessing a crime in her neighborhood, Bennett is forced into the spotlight and must overcome depression, and grief, and is forced to face her dysfunctional family.
Burton explained that when coming up with the book’s idea, she took inspiration from her own life and what she finds important.
“I love books that feature character development and have multiple settings,” Burton said. “I visualized my character living in my neighborhood — thus the title involving Rushville Street, the street I live on. Then, I moved her on to settings in North Carolina and Italy.”
Additionally, as a former Capitol Hill reporter, Burton had wanted to write a book for years and recently had the time to commit to the project. She explained that both pursuits required thorough research.
“There was tremendous research required to create authentic settings of the book, to accurately portray courtroom protocol, and to add many details about life in Italy,” she said. “So in that sense, it was heavy research that had to be done for the novel to be authentic.
“The differences are in the writing — a reportorial style versus novel writing. Fact versus fiction. I was delighted to experience the creative freedom as a novelist — to create from a blank screen, develop characters, create dialogue, the plot and subplots, and write descriptions.”
Burton’s creative freedom led her to include a writing trope known as “found family,” in which a character or characters establish a non-biologically related group of people who provide ongoing support. She detailed that this concept came to her as a dream during her writing process.
“I wanted my character to be able to contribute something to society and the world in the book — to show that she had healed much of her pain and was finally able to give back to others in the end,” Burton explained. “‘Neighbors as a family’ is truly what [Skyler] experienced since she came from a dysfunctional family and, in the end, embraced the love and support of neighbors and friends.”
Lastly, Burton noted that she hopes readers “find inspiration in the character’s journey from depression and isolation to self-discovery and joy. [Skyler’s] spiritual journey was very important to me in this book and I hope my readers might be moved to examine their faith and what it means in their lives.”
Those interested in learning more about Burton, her book, ways to purchase the title, and more can do so at https://barbaraburtonauthor.com/.
