Hill Country Authors Series hosts author Elizabeth Crook
The Friends of The Georgetown Public Library had author Elizabeth Crook come to speak about her latest novel, The Madstone, as a part of their Hill Country Author Series.
The Madstone is set in Texas during the 1860s and follows Benjamin, a familiar character to readers who have read her book The Which Way Tree, in his attempt to help a young pregnant mother and her child run from outlaws. Ms. Crook was inspired to write The Madstone because she wanted to continue her creative relationship with Benjamin.
“I missed him when I finished writing [The Which Way Tree in 2018],” she said. “It was the first book that I had written from the first person point of view and I think the intimacy of that was one thing that bonded me to him. But also he’s just a really good, honest guy. He was 17-years-old in The Which Way Tree. In my [new book The Madstone,] I wanted to age him up a couple years, give him a first love, give him another adventure [so that I could] hang out with him another few years while writing a new story.”
The Which Way Tree and The Madstone are stand-alone novels, meaning that readers do not need to read them in order. The commonality between the two books is that they both follow Benjamin on a journey.
The Which Way Tree is a story about Benjamin and his half-sister tracking down a mountain lion that killed her mother. This novel was inspired by an event in Ms. Crook’s own life. Her own son got lost in the woods and wound up facing a mountain lion. Although The Which Way Tree is not a direct retelling of the true event, this experience is what sparked her “obsession” with mountain lions and humans as prey.
The Madstone is named after an ancient tool that was used to withdraw poison from wounds caused by rabid animals. A madstone was a collection of hair taken out of a deer’s stomach; people thought that if the madstone turned green after being applied to the wound, then the injured person would not get rabies.
“There was no surviving [an attack by a rabid animal] and a madstone gave people hope even though it didn’t work. The madstone plays a part in an incident in the book when they need to save someone, so that’s how it becomes a part of the story.” Ms. Crook explained during the portion of the event reserved for audience questions.
Participant Norma Gaines asked her about the process of writing a novel and getting started.
“It begins with a lot of reading [...] anything that might give me an idea and then it becomes a treasure hunt where I’m just looking through old history books and journals mostly— first hand accounts, memoirs— until I land on something that makes me go ‘ah-ahah that can make a story” or “that could be a strand of the story,’ ” Ms. Crook said.
“I don’t ever know what’s going to happen next in my book [when I’m writing]. I’m just feeling my way and the way I figure it out is by putting these characters in a situation and seeing what they do.”
Many members of the audience asked Ms. Crook why she wrote the ending of The Madstone the way that she did. A couple of them were frustrated to have not been given more answers and demanded some sort of explanation.
“What I like is a story where there you don’t feel like you’ve been left hanging— where you’re left thinking. Otherwise, you just finish the book and it’s over. I like there to be something at the end that [readers] are still thinking about even though the book is finished.”
Ms. Crook was awarded the 2023 Texas Writer Award by The Texas Book Festival. Her book, The Which Way Tree, is currently in the process of being turned into a movie.
The Hill Country Author Series is a fundraiser for the Friends of the Georgetown Public Library. The event had refreshments from Sweet Lemon Kitchen. Lark and Owl sold copies of The Madstone beside the Ms. Crook’s book signing table.