The Tysen Hotel
A Novel
by
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“You think Sample is coming out tonight to scout for a wife?” Matt asked Doobie.
“Sample’s already got a girl in mind. He’s coming tonight to bid on Alice Tolney’s pie.”
Matt had just taken his last draw from his cigarette and choked. And I just told Naomi there was nothing to worry about, he thought.
“My God, Alice won’t even graduate from high school until next month, and Sample’s twenty five years older than she is.” Naomi had more reasons to worry than she knew. There was trouble coming. “Besides, Alice is going steady with Ray Redeem.” He dropped his cigarette on the dirt and ground it out with the toe of his shoe.
“I know that. I just said Sample was going to bid. I know as well as you do that Ray ain’t about to let him have that pie without a fight.”
“What makes Sample think Alice could possibly be interested in him?”
“It ain’t Alice who’s interested in Sample; it’s her daddy.” Doobie searched in his overalls for his beer.
“What are you talking about, Doob?” Matt asked. Sometimes, Doobie liked to elaborate, but there was almost always a seed of truth in his story.
“Webster Tolney thinks that if Sample marries Alice he’ll be set for life. Fact is, Sample’s willing to trade Webster some mighty good bottom land for Alice,” Doobie said.
Matt stared at Doobie. “Webster is willing to trade him Alice for land?”
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About the Book
Nothing in the air Saturday evening in May of 1950 predicts that from Naomi Hollister’s kitchen at the Tysen Hotel to the pulpit of the First Baptist Church, few will be left unscarred in body or spirit by the conflict that erupts at Tysen’s Annual Pie Supper.
Certainly, Naomi can’t know the fight that begins between Sample Forney and Ray Redeem will be one she takes up. She can’t guess her opponent will not be Sample Forney, who lusts after young Alice Tolney, or Alice’s father, Webster Tolney, who agrees to barter her away to Sample. But the challenge is Naomi’s own Baptist preacher, Busby Howard, a man who likes wearing his mantle in Tysen; it marks him as the leader of his com-munity. In small Missouri towns, most of the folks know the Trinity is made up of God, the Father; God, the Son; and god, the Baptist preacher. Howard is no exception, and he makes sure his flock understands.
The Tysen Hotel presents a novel of the struggle for love and faith against an onslaught of greed, lust, and a preacher’s damnation in a small town in the foot-hills of the Ozarks.
About the Author
Donna Gormly was professor of English and creative writing. Her short story, “Joy,” appears in Out of Dallas, which she coedited with Jane Roberts Wood and Sally Schrup. This is her first novel. Gormly lives with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Jennie, in Dallas, Texas.