When Devils Sing(115)
In this, I wish I could give you all a tidy resolution about Lake Clearwater and Carrion. I wish I knew the answers myself. But I don’t. Instead, I will share with you the one thing that I do know. There are people in this world whose power exceeds our wildest imaginations. People with enough money and influence to make them virtually untouchable. Many of these people are prominent figures in the community of Lake Clearwater.
But before now, this community’s crimes have never known the light of day. This season has sought to change that by peeling back the curtain and exposing the truth.
To my listeners, whatever happens next to Lake Clearwater lies in your hands.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Reader,
The Deep South is a place as beautiful as it is grotesque, as wonderful as it is terrifying. It’s a region of incredible complexity, but it’s not a place we often see in mainstream media. And if we do, it’s rarely depicted with the nuance and dignity it deserves. When Devils Sing is my attempt to change that.
In writing this book, I was inspired by my own Punjabi family’s ill-fated pursuit of the American dream in rural Georgia. I grew up among the towering pines, and for many years, I thought I’d never know the world beyond the empty acres of flatland that stretched before me. Rural places have a way of feeling expansive yet overwhelmingly isolating. Being raised in such a place was magical and painful all at once, and it’s those sentiments that I aimed to imbue in this work.
When Devils Sing is equal parts a love letter to the rural South as well as a speculative depiction of the violent parts of Southern culture and history relating to the systemic inequality found here. But this is merely one story exploring a fictional town in Southwest Georgia. It’s not meant to be an exhaustive exploration of the entirety of the Deep South.
I hope you’ll walk away from this book knowing that there is a rich diversity of people, culture, and beauty in a place that is overlooked and too often demonized when it does make it into mainstream American narratives. The South deserves better.
Xan
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I always knew When Devils Sing would be the first story I ever told. It felt like an inevitable truth to write this book, as if I could write nothing else until this was complete. With that context in mind, writing these acknowledgments feels a whole lot like the last day of summer in Southwest Georgia, bringing with it a sense of finality and change that is more feeling than fact. In that, I suppose I’m finally heading out of Carrion, and there are many people to thank along the way.
To my literary agent, Pete Knapp, there is no one more extraordinary. This book would not exist without your steadfast belief in it, and I can never truly thank you enough. And to the incredible team at Park & Fine who helped, in many ways, bring this book into the world: Stuti Telidevara, Danielle Barthel, Kat Toolan. Many thanks to Claire Wilson and the team at RCW for getting WDS across the pond.
Brian Geffen, thank you for your brilliant editorial eye and passion for this story. You saw this book, and I’m so immensely grateful. Thank you to the wonderful team at Holt and First Ink for all the amazing work y’all do: Carina Licon, Sarah Gompper, Jie Yang, Tatiana Merced-Zarou, Teresa Ferraiolo, Kelley Frodel, Guy Oldfield, Emma Jones, Cate Augustin. A massive thank-you to Christina Mrozik and L. Whitt for the cover of my dreams.
Pitch Wars 2020 was where this book’s journey truly began, and I’m not sure where I’d be without it, as well as the incredible people I met along the way (on hours of Zoom sprints). To my mentor, Kylie Schachte, thank you for seeing something worthwhile in the absolute mess of a draft you received. You were this book’s guiding light during a particularly dark winter.
Hannah V. Sawyerr, thank you for always picking up the phone. Kat Korpi, our writing dates keep me sane. Morgan Forté, thank you for being there for me on That Very Stressful Day. Kacie Faith Kress, I’m so grateful TRC brought us together.
Sophia, thank you for always being the branch I can land upon. Elizabeth, I would not have survived rural Georgia without you. Maddy, to many more book conversations, beach trips, and matcha. Arianna, I couldn’t ask for a better creative partner. Jamari, thank you for believing in this story before I did.
I owe everything, including the creation of this book, to my mother and my aunt. I have always wanted for the stars, and you never doubted my ability to reach for them. This book is for us—for all we’ve lost, and all we have to gain. Just a bit more time and I promise I’ll dream you the world.
And to the readers from rural, misunderstood places who may see themselves within these pages: One day, things will be better, and life will be beautiful. Never stop fighting for your well-deserved peace.
About the Author
Xan Kaur grew up in rural Georgia, where there were more gnats than people. When she’s not writing, you can find her behind a camera or swimming in the nearest ocean. When Devils Sing is her debut novel. You can sign up for email updates here.