About the Book
December 28th, 1967. America has taken a respite from the heated protests and firebombing that engulfed the nation the previous summer. Martin Luther King, Jr. has begun laying out plans for his Poor People's Campaign. Florina Gavin Austin, two days married, has moved across state to Poinsettia, North Carolina where she will begin a new life as Mrs. Redmond Austin. On approach to the house where she and her husband will live, Florina spies a woman sitting on the steps and smoking a cigarette. "You must be Redmond's new wife," the woman says. "All of Poinsettia's been talking about you." Failing to introduce herself, the woman stands, flicks cigarette buts behind the shrubbery, and proceeds into what will become Florina's new home. The woman's uncanny knowledge of the space that Florina will inhabit with her new husband leaves Florina feeling more than ill at ease. Following the benediction at Sunday services, Florina witnesses the woman she will come to know as Agnes, caress Redmond's cheek. The look in Redmond's eyes betrays longing. Agnes' words to Redmond in a letter confirm Florina's fears, "I will always love you." They also force Florina to confront her own secrets--her first marriage, one that neither her parents nor Redmond know of. Florina and Agnes are neighbors. Their houses stand next to each other. Their husbands, Negro doctors in Poinsettia, hold prominent positions in the social and political life of their community. As their wives, Florina and Agnes occupy positions of similar regard. When Agnes flees to Memphis and joins the Sanitation Workers Protests, all are aghast, none more than Florina. Yet she holds empathy for Agnes, respects Agnes' strength in standing up for what she and all Negroes across America believe and desire: Civil Rights for their people in America. As they move towards the fateful day, April 4th, 1968, when a great statesman of America, perhaps the greatest ever, will be killed, Florina learns that marriage exposes the vulnerabilities of all who pledge their trough and body. It casts an even greater shadows upon the ones who vow love unto death, and do not deliver what they have promised. When the Drum Major Died shows what happens when we resist change in favor of worn out tradition, but also what can and does occur when we open our hearts and embrace the words, " ... be first in love ... be first in generosity ... He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. ... "
About the Author: Anjuelle Floyd is a wife of thirty-two years, mother of three, abstract painter, and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in Mother-Daughter Relations and Dreams. She is the author of a collection of short stories, Keeper of Secrets ... Translations of an Incident (2007, ) and three novels, The House (2010, ) Seasons in Purdah (2012) and When the Drum Major Died (2014.) Anjuelle's short stories and novels turn on the dynamics of women for whom life challenges impel them to examine the flawed relationships with their mothers in an effort to improve connections and interactions with their husbands and intimates. Anjuelle's novel, The House (October 2010) earned recognition in two genre's of the 2011 Readers' Favorite Awards: Honorable in Christian Fiction, and Finalist in Dramatic Fiction. http: //readersfavorite.com/2011-award-contest-winners.htm A graduate of Duke University, she received her MA in Counseling Psychology from The California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. She has attended the Dominican Institute of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College, Port Townsend, Washington. She has received certificates of participation from The Hurston-Wright Writers' Week and The Voices of Our Nations Writing Workshops. The Spring 2006 Issue of The Pitkin Review, literary journal of Goddard College MFA Program in Writing, lists, along with other works, Anjuelle's short story, The Kingdom of Heaven in the prose/fiction section. Anjuelle conducted the Master Fiction Class at the 2008 Winter Literary Festival hosted by The University of Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas. The 2008 Issue of Windhover, the literary journal of Mary Hardin-Baylor published, along with works by other writers, Anjuelle's short story, Eucharist, that Kaleidoscope Magazine, the journal for the United Disabilities Services subsequently featured in their July 2009 Issue. A student of Process Painting for the last decade, Anjuelle has participated in The Art of Living Black Exhibitions 2004-2014 held at the Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California. On January 9th, 2013, Anjuelle received the Jan Hart-Schuyers Award for her painting, Intimacy I, exhibited during the 2013 Exhibition of the Art of Living Black. Anjuelle was one of four authors who participated in the 20th Annual Berkeley/Oakland YWCA Festival of Women Authors, February 1, 2014.
