THE DRUM BEAT REPEATS
BRIDGEPORT NATIVE’S NOVEL DEPICTS A DISTANT, BUT FAMILIAR, TIME
When Lisa Braxton finished the first draft of her novel “The Talking Drum,” in 2010, she thought of it as a snapshot of a moment in time. The book, set in 1971, deals with such topics as gentrification, racial and class conflicts, and the struggles faced by immigrants building new lives in America.
“I thought it would be interesting for people to look back on this time of unrest,” says Braxton, a Bridgeport native who now lives in Massachusetts.
But when the novel, Braxton’s first, came out this month, the world it depicted seemed deeply familiar. Following the death of George Floyd, 46, who was black, at the hands of police on May 25, protesters across the country have taken to the streets to speak out about racism and police violence, and to demand change.
Braxton, who didn’t give her age, admits that the world into which her book was released is eerily similar to the one within its pages. But she says the story would have been relevant no matter when it was published — it’s just particularly relevant now.
“A book like this is always needed,” she says. “Racial issues and justice issues — these things do not go away. They book is timely, but it’s always timely.”
“The Talking Drum” is set in the fictional city of Bellport, Mass., but Braxton says it’s largely based on her experiences growing up in Bridgeport. The book centers on an urban redevelopment project that, ostensibly, aims to change the struggling factory town into a thriving economic center, but, in reality, will likely mean doom for many local residents and businesses.
That’s a topic Braxton is intimately familiar with, as her parents owned a clothing store in Bridgeport from the 1960s into the 2000s. Braxton says the store thrived for years, but gentrification and various redevelopment projects led to a decline in business, until the store eventually closed.
She says it’s a story that’s still all too common in urban areas around the country.
“Over the years people will ask what my novel’s about and (when I tell them it’s about urban redevelopment), people will get wide eyed and say ‘That happened to me. That happened to my neighborhood,’ ” Braxton says.
However, Braxton has fond memories of Bridgeport, where her parents still live. It’s where she first realized she had a passion for reading and writing.
“The Bridgeport library system is a big part of how I got to love reading and writing,” she says. “I remember my mother getting me my first library card at the North Branch Library.”
She says, from a young age, she longed to write novels, but her mother urged her to use her love of words in a more practical way. Braxton became a journalist, and worked for two summers at the Connecticut Post, before becoming an anchor and reporter with News 12 CT.
Braxton says she never lost the desire to become a novelist, but her work was “so fast-paced,” it didn’t leave much time for creative writing. Eventually, though, she began to write essays and short stories, and went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University. While in that program, she began working on what would become “The Talking Drum.”
She says, initially, she set out to write a romance about a man and woman working in a bookstore. But that never seemed to feel right. Then she got the idea of writing a story based on her parents’ issues with urban redevelopment, and it started to come together.
After Braxton finished writing, she submitted the manuscript, and was rejected multiple times. She kept working on the book and, in 2017, she connected with a small Canadian company, Inanna Publications and Education, Inc., at a book expo and they were interested in the book.
So far, Braxton says, her book has received a good reception, both in the publishing world and from her friends and family. That includes many of her old classmates from her days at Central High School in Bridgeport. Braxton says she remains connected to the city, and has been heartened to see how committed many of its citizens are to speaking out against injustice.
“I am so proud to see the activism in Bridgeport, and how vocal people have been,” she says.
“RACIAL ISSUES AND JUSTICE ISSUES — THESE THINGS DO NOT GO AWAY.”