I found the inspiration for Allivon reading a travel diary from 1924. I first got the idea for this project when my mother-in-law shared a travel journal from 1924 with me. I read it cover to cover sitting in her front yard in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I found it completely captivating, and soon June was sharing much more - letters, postcards, menus, photographs - even a schoolgirl diary written in pencil in an old composition book! I pored over these treasures for twenty years or more, always toying with the idea of creating a character and a story about what it meant to be a woman at that time. Lying fallow (or so I thought) the idea developed and took wing. Until at last, I feel it's time to tell Allivon's story.
Allivon's mother, Adele Allivon played on the floor in front of the iron stove, her paper dolls scattered all around her. Outside the window, snow covered the wide lawn and sloping fields, and a dull gray sky promised more of the same. From the dining room came the sound of her parents talking, her father’s voice firm and unyielding, and her mother’s plaintive. She couldn’t make out the words and she didn’t want to. Del had just returned from his work at the pharmacy, and soon enough she would be called into dinner. Allivon was usually delighted whenever her father was home and Saturdays were always the best. Since he only worked a half-day, Del often took her on an adventure after dinner. Sometimes it was a sleigh ride or a visit to the library. Today, however, he had not come into the kitchen where she was playing to toss her in the air and beg a kiss....