Leaving Edgefield

Before the headlines, before the truth cracked through the silence-there was Carrie Butler.

In the shadows of early 20th-century Edgefield, South Carolina-a town steeped in tradition, hierarchy, and secrets-young Carrie Butler lived a life both ordinary and extraordinary. Born into a world that barely acknowledged her existence, Carrie was thrust into the domestic service of one of Edgefield’s most powerful families. There, her fate would become entangled with that of Strom Thurmond, a future US Senator and staunch segregationist, in ways history has long ignored.

Leaving Edgefield reclaims the voice of a woman history nearly erased. Based on the real-life mother of Strom Thurmond’s biracial daughter, this sweeping and lyrical work of historical fiction breathes life into the story of a young Black woman whose resilience becomes her legacy. From the rolling fields of Edgefield to the streets of Philadelphia, from whispered betrayals to whispered prayers, Carrie’s journey is one of unyielding spirit in the face of exploitation, loss, and silence.

Carolyn W. Hooker paints a deeply moving portrait of a woman who, though deemed invisible in her own time, now claims her rightful place in the American story. For readers of The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, Leaving Edgefield is both a vital act of remembrance and a literary triumph-a tale of heartbreak, dignity, and the quiet defiance of survival.

History didn’t tell her story. This novel does.

Author Biography

Carolyn W. Hooker is a South Carolina-based writer and educator whose work explores the intersections of history, identity, and resilience. With Leaving Edgefield, she was moved to reimagine the silenced story of Carrie Butler through careful research and literary imagination, creating a work of historical fiction designed to honor a woman deemed invisible in her own time. Hooker has deep ties to Spartanburg and Charleston, grounding her work in the landscapes where this history still reverberates.