WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:30 — 40.5MB)
Denise Breeden-Ost writes prose and poetry that conveys a real sense of rural life in the heartland. In her novel, Making it All Right, the listener is transported to small town and farm life in south central Indiana just after the second world war.
Breeden-Ost captures just the right amount of detail in creating setting, dialogue and characters so that the unusual story feels familial – the reader is given a seat at the kitchen table. The everyday is described with reverence, grounding readers in the ordinary even as the extraordinary story pulls us along.
The story unfolds in the voices of the two main characters, May and Vera, allowing the reader insight into both women, the situation they find themselves in, and the impact that World War II, a quietly ever-present shadow, casts on their lives, and that of their families.
While the setting of the novel is local, the questions posed are universal: how do we decide what is right and how do we create the best life possible for ourselves and those we love?
ABOUT
Denise Breeden-Ost has edited and proofread books, built her own house from scratch, raised a child, co-run a market farm, and facilitated writing circles for women and children. When she isn’t writing, she can often be found making cornbread. Denise lives on a ridgetop in south-central Indiana, with a small family, a large garden, and innumerable trees.
MUSIC
Chet Atkins
“Rings of Grass”
“Lover Come Back to Me”
“Tenderly”
CREDITS
Narrator: Joan Hawkins
Producer & Host: Robert Shull
Assistant Producer: Doug Storm
Recording Engineer: Cindy Beaulé
Literary Consultant: Shana Ritter
Executive Producer: Josh Brewer
