Refuge won the Weatherford Award in Fiction and Poetry in 2006 when that award was more respected than it is now. The protagonist, Mary Seneca Steele, leaves her abusive husband in Charleston, South Carolina, and takes her son and daughter to the South Carolina Blue Ridge where she has roots. “Refuge is a wonderful story about the need to find one’s place in the world―and the price paid to remain there. With her narrative gift and keen ear for Appalachian speech, Dot Jackson gives her readers a beautifully rendered portrait of a lost time and place.” ―Ron Rash. “Refuge is an intensely readable novel of the complexity of family ties―the struggle of a strong woman through the odyssey back to her roots. Dot Jackson is a true Southern voice, a master storyteller and an Appalachian treasure.”―Dori Sanders.
“Exceptionally well-written, Refuge is very strongly recommended for the readers seeking a vivid tale of love, intimacy, fate, and an evocative mystery.”―Midwest Book Review. “What a glorious event is the publication of this beautiful novel by Dot Jackson, one of the most gifted souls who ever breathed the sweet air of Appalachia. In Refuge she confirms the verity that the love we give, whether to place, people or other creatures, is all the shelter we need.” ―Jerry Bledsoe. Dot Jackson (1932-2016) was a columnist for the Charlotte Observer from Ashe County, North Carolina, who campaigned against the New River Dam that was never built. She retired to the South Carolina Blue Ridge where she was raised and wrote this one book which thoroughly demonstrated her superior story-telling art.
New York: Diversion Books, a 2021 paperback reprint of a 2006 release. 339 pages. Trade paperback.