Persistence
A Collection of Poems by Ruth McArthur brought to you by Finishing Line Press
Coming February 2020
Persistence, Ruth’s first book of poetry, comes out February 2020. This story-in-verse is based on family stories around the women whose lives were touched by her maternal grandfather and the courage they showed in persevering despite his less than honorable impulses.
Cover Art by Cecilia Fuentes
HOW PERSISTENCE CAME TO BE
We grew up with stories of our maternal grandfather - a man self-centered to the point of cruelty. Sometime in the 1960s, a woman contacted the family as she was a child from a previous marriage. She and my mother, half sisters, corresponded until their deaths, and even visited at one point. A few years back, one of my sisters joined a genealogy website and was discovered by a great-granddaughter of from yet another marriage. My siblings and I shared our memories and family lore and “new cousin” Lynn shared hers. Looking at them all together, it painted a sorry picture. I got on a genealogy site myself and put together a paper trail that put the lie to many stories and created questions and new stories. I knew I had to write about this and the result is Persistence. Since its writing, new information has come to light, so the story continues…..
What Others are Saying
“After poring through census records, letters between cousins and old newspaper reports, poet Ruth McArthur has painstakingly stitched her family tree into fascinating lyric and story, centering the nearly invisible lives of mothers, daughters, and (not quite) wives. Conjuring the folksy voices of women all impacted by one man’s wide swath, she explores how trauma carries down the generations and how it can be halted. As women continue to build the #metoo movement, Persistence reminds us justice in the present demands we honor the past as well, “knitting broken bits toward wholeness.””
“As an avid bird watcher, Ruth has honed her observational skills. In this book of poems, her perceptive attention is focused on the women who have come before her. Capturing distinct voices and character traits, long-hidden family secrets are brought into the light. #metoo is working its way through the family tree. Women of strength, endurance, and tenacity come to life on these pages. ”
