The Dancin' Man

By Mary Ann Claud

THE DANCIN' MAN is the story of an ambitious young man of modest means who marries into a legendary Southern family of wealth and power. His mother-in-law, the formidable Dolly, takes him--Ted-- into the family's cotton mill business and soon he is helping her run it. His position with her and the mills does not endear him to his brothers-in-law and even puts a strain on his marriage to Virginia. When Dolly dies, the whole family comes undone. This happens as the mill business in the the southern United States begins to falter. Besides being a powerful family saga, THE DANCIN' MAN gives a vivid picture of economic and social upheaval. Its characters are strong and deep. It is a compelling read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Ann Claud
• Release date: Apr 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9780988416468

Mary Ann Claud

Mary Ann Claud is a singer, a lover of the arts, a mother and grandmother, a wife, a friend, a lover of life. She has written professionally for decades and has now brought her talent and experience to her first novel. THE DANCIN' MAN is a family saga, its drama playing out against the backdrop of social and economic change in the American South from the 1950s until the 1980s. In her second novel, WHIRLYGIG; THE DANCIN' MAN'S DAUGHTER, Claud focuses on Volly Brunson and her return to Parkersburg SC in 1999. With a recently won MBA in hand, she intends to revive and modernize the family business and accept the responsibilities she has run from for the intermittent ten years. But there are problems. Volly's father, the company president, has other plans for the business he has handled for the past thirty years. Volly's uncle, Sam Ward is in increasingly poor health and Montvue, the family estate he manages, needs attention. Very quickly Volly discovers that life in Parkersburg has not changed since she left. But she has. Mary Ann lives in Tryon, NC with her husband, Olin. Together they have visited over fifty festivals, book club meets and book stores talking about the dysfunctional Ward/Brunson clan and sharing what she describes as the great adventure of writing as a career.