A quiet, refined and talented woman visited our campus Thursday, Oct. 26. Her name is Alison McGhee and she is the author of a new book called Shadow Baby.

Shadow Baby is the story of 11-year-old Clara winter, who prefers not to capitalize her last name--she hates the season for taking the life of her twin sister the night they were born in the middle of a snowstorm, and wishes to take away its power in as many ways as possible.

Told through Clara's eyes, the story chronicles her relationships with her mother, who refuses to talk about Clara's father or grandfather, and her 77-year-old friend Georg Kominsky. McGhee read several passages from the book, bringing out her own as well as Clara's dry and honest humor.

Ms. McGhee talked about her book afterwards, and explained the authenticity of the 11-year-old's narrative: she combined several elements of her own personal experiences to begin writing, and soon thereafter Clara simply appeared. McGhee took what she called an "unconscious leap into her head" and learned to write using her self-developed method of "specificity without explanation."

Clara's friendship with Georg helps her understand her pain, but it seems that such an old man is a strange character for this role. McGhee simply said that "his history," similar to Clara's, came from her history. He was the only suitable person in Clara's life with enough experience to guide her to what she needed to know.

McGhee's first novel, Rainlight, was published in 1998. She said it was difficult to break into the book industry because of the struggle to find an agent. She finally resorted to selling the rights herself, to a now defunct printing company, but luckily the production of Shadow Baby turned out to be much easier.

She is now working on her next book, tentatively titled Was it Beautiful? and is busy creating a children's book called Velcro Girl, illustrated by Henry Bliss. Both are scheduled for release in one or two years.

Inspiration for McGhee's work stems from writers like Tobias Wolfe, Barbara Kingsolver, and Scott Momady. She loves poetry and memoirs as well, and uses their influence to add a more lyrical and realistically biographical touch to her story about Clara. It is a moving piece with a child's unveiled honesty, and Alison McGhee is the kind of capable writer who promises to continue creating works of such high quality.