The Viola Factor" takes place at a time when the country faced division and growth after the American Civil War. Viola Knapp Ruffner (1812-1903) struggled with what was just and fair, becoming a little-known confidant for a young black scholar from Virginia. But Viola was much more than a teacher; she was a mother, wife, game-changer, and friend. With her mother's dying wish, a young woman alone, she left her New England roots. This is a story of trauma and love in the South while battling for justice and the rightful education of the enslaved and once enslaved. African American leader Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) called her his friend and model for life.
The Viola
Factor is in many ways a journey of life done in baby steps, tentatively
stumbling, until a galloping stride is achieved. Viola Knapp wears different
shoes on different days. Heavy, mud-trekking boots to allow for aggressive
steps, and daintier shoes for more rhythmic and assertive ones. She was a
diligent daughter, an outspoken protector, and a progressive teacher.
Like many
women in her situation, alone at seventeen, Viola must realize her own
principles to fulfill her future goals. With every stride, Viola Knapp Ruffner
marches around surprises, over potholes, and dodges folly after folly on her
journey to be fulfilled. After ambling in one direction, plodding along in
another, and wandering to find herself, a sudden halt pushes her forward until
a factor of fate places her in the path of a newly freed slave with a desire to
read and penchant to lead. After years of post-traumatic stress and mental
uncoupling, she finds herself a woman who followed her mother's dying wish to
fight for what is fair and just.
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/b5YERw
Sheridan Brown holds advanced degrees in school leadership and is a certified teacher, principal, and educational leader. The arts have always been a central force in her life, since performing in piano recitals, school band, plays, and singing in choirs her whole life.
Ms. Brown was born in Tennessee and raised in small
towns of southwest Virginia. She practiced her profession in Virginia,
Massachusetts, and Florida. Upon retirement, she began volunteering, painting,
writing, researching, and traveling with her husband, attorney John Crawford.
She has one son, Tony Hume. She is GiGi to Aiden and Lucy. She has returned to
the Blue Ridge to live and explore.
Author Links:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sheridan-l-brown-17422a5
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theviolafactor/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0B3HMSRBM
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20766921.Sheridan_Brown
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheridanreels22
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sbrown1919
