Uncovering Appalachia’s Hidden Heroines: Pauletta Hansel Reveals Untold Stories in Understory
L.L.: They say a work of art should change not just the artist, but the viewer or the reader. What two or three things really felt changed in you as you wrote Understory?
P.H.: Undertaking such a large project gave me more confidence as a writer, a sense that I have the perseverance and stamina to work — or at least stumble — my way through to a conclusion I feel good about, no matter the barriers I face. Going back to one of your earlier questions, I also don’t worry so much now about what I leave behind to future generations but instead feel a deep gratitude for the women who have carried me to the place I am now. More gratitude for my life circumstances in general — a good education that I can put to good use, a comfortable home, a happy marriage — and to my own parents who worked so hard to heal family trauma without erasing family connections. My sister, the oldest, they named Renée, to signify the rebirth that they saw their union achieving. Me, they named Pauletta, after my father’s mother Pauline and my mother’s mother, Etta, daughter of Sarah Margaret and thus granddaughter of Evaline, Bettie, Eveline, Polly, Rhoda, Anna, Betsey, Mary, Elizabeth, Rachel, Hannah, Joanna, and Margaret. As am I.
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