Book Reading and Signing for Indianapolis Author Nancy VanArsdall’s new book about suffrage spanning three generations.

Enjoy hearing Indianapolis author Nancy VanArsdall share some parts of her book, The Thousandth Telling. Get the chance to meet the author, have books signed, and enjoy VanArsdall herself discuss her book.
Light appetizers will be served and a cash bar is available for drinks. Propylaeum members get 1 free drink ticket.
About the Author
Nancy VanArsdall is a writer and feminist psychotherapist. She was born in Indianapolis and graduated from Butler University, earning a Master’s Degree. Her groundbreaking creative non-fiction book, Coming Full Circle: Honoring the Rhythm of Relationships is her first book. She has put her keen observations of history and human nature to work in The Thousandth Telling, her first novel.
About the Book
Spanning nearly a century, The Thousandth Telling is the story of three generations of women each of whom must navigate the prevailing social norms as she strives to live an authentic life. The story begins with Anna who seeks to balance mothering her six children while supporting her demanding husband in a deteriorating marriage. Desiring a better future for her four daughters, she dedicates herself to women’s suffrage.
Ruth, Anna’s youngest and willful daughter, returns home after a year’s banishment to South Carolina to find her town in the throes of the Ku Klux Klan. Initially captivated by the drama of the Klan, she joins the WKKK until the increasing reign of terror becomes personal. Against a backdrop of speakeasies, big bands, the Great Depression and into the Post World War II boom, Ruth seeks to heal from her shameful past. While marriage promises to help her regain her respectability, the trust and stability for which she yearns is elusive.
Dianna, who introduces each woman’s story, marries her college sweetheart. When their life is suddenly and tragically derailed by the unimaginable, Dianna is challenged to regain her equilibrium. The tumultuous 60’s provide the impetus to “raising her consciousness.” Inspired by her grandmother, Anna, Dianna is drawn into another struggle for equal rights for women.
Each of the three women must face the inevitable dilemma: Has she paid too high a price?