Amy: Della Swan, welcome to Character Cafe. We’re honored to have you. Though I suspect your Aunt Leticia would say we’re wasting electricity and good sugar on this interview.
Della Swan: Oh, she absolutely would. And she’d probably remind you that “idle chatter never buttered a biscuit.”
Amy: Your first chapter opens in the kitchen at Hotel Fairwood before dawn, watching toast burn while trying not to sing. That scene feels oddly heartbreaking. Why don’t you sing?
Della: Mostly it’s because it’s against my aunt’s rules. But, it’s also because music hurts sometimes. Funny thing, isn’t it? Every hymn I know reminds me of what we lost. Father conducting with his eyes closed. Frank laughing at the piano. The boys harmonizing so loud we’d near shake the windows loose. Then one train accident later… it all stopped. So now I’m stuck burning toast instead.
Amy: That may be the saddest sentence ever spoken over breakfast at Character Cafe.
Della: [With an endearing half smile] You ought to taste the toast.
Amy: Readers already seem fascinated by Hotel Fairwood. It almost feels alive in the story.
Della: That house is alive. It creaks like it’s listening. The hotel pretends to be modern with its electric gadgets and shiny tiles, but underneath? It’s still old Louisiana bones and old Louisiana secrets. Aunt Leticia notices everything. The guests notice nothing. And me? I’m somewhere in the middle, trying not to trip over both my aunt and the guests. And then there’s my father…
Amy: Your youngest brother Max is one of the most intriguing characters so far. Especially those little ceramic birds. Those pie vent birds. I never heard of pie vents before, can you believe it?
Della: Really? I thought every household had them. Took them for granted, I guess. Our Max notices things the rest of us overlook. People think because he’s quiet, he doesn’t understand. Truth is, he understands too much. Those pie birds belonged to Beatriz, the old cook. Bluebird, yellowbird, blackbird. Max lines them up every morning like they’re keeping order in the world. Maybe they are.
Amy: Your family once traveled the South performing gospel music. Was fame hard to lose?
Della: We weren’t famous famous.Not like movie stars. But church folk knew us. We’d sing in revivals, camp meetings, schoolhouses. Sometimes the radios carried our music farther than our old automobile ever could. And when people heard us sing together… well, it felt like the Lord had stitched Heaven a little closer to earth. So yes. Losing that hurt. It’s not the lack of applause. It hurts because music was how we belonged to one another.
Amy: Yet you still believe your family will sing again.
Della: I have to believe. Faith isn’t faith if it only works when things turn out pleasant.
Amy: What you just said about faith is something we all need to remember. Speaking of pleasant things… readers are already whispering about Clayton Miller.
Della: Oh, for pity’s sake.
Amy: That wasn’t a denial.
Della: Clayton is… steady. You know how some people walk into a room and make noise? Clayton’s the opposite. He’s the sort of person who quiets a room just by standing in it. He notices when someone’s carrying too much and takes half without making a fuss over it.That kind of kindness sneaks up on a girl.
Amy: What would surprise readers most about you?
Della: I’m angrier than I seem. There. I said it. I smile because somebody has to keep the seams from splitting apart. But underneath? I’m furious at the accident. Furious at poverty. Furious that Frank hurts. Furious that Father looks at us sometimes like we’re strangers.And maybe a little furious at God for being silent while all this happened. Though I know He can handle these feelings I have.
Amy: Your author writes grief in a very tender way. What’s it like being seen that clearly on the page?
Della: Uncomfortable. But good uncomfortable. Like how your eyes burn when you are slicing the onion that you know will be the ingredient that takes a recipe from bland to scrumptious, I guess.
Amy: One last question. If readers sit down with a cup of tea and open your story, what do you hope they’ll find?
Della: Hope for ordinary broken people. Not perfect people. Not brave-all-the-time people. Just people trying to hold their families together with prayer, burnt toast, threadbare courage, and maybe a song they’re afraid to sing again. And if they cry a little while reading… Well. I hope they laugh a little too. Especially when Aunt Leticia starts talking.
Amy: It was hard to pick which tasty treat we would serve here at Character Cafe in honor of your story — your Tea Tale is full of mentions of sweets and savories. But, finally we decided on something to represent the chocolate cake you made for your father’s birthday. [Presents a tray with a flourish] Toda! Introducing Chocolate Baked Donuts from “A Beautiful Mess.” https://abeautifulmess.com/chocolate-baked-donuts/
Della: They look marvelous. My aunt would have declared those colorful sprinkles a mess, however.
Amy: Della, modern bakeries often use rainbow sprinkles on desserts. What would a tea room like Hotel Fairwood have used back in your day?
Della: Colored sugar, if times were good enough for it. Tiny nonpareils for special cakes. Coconut dyed pale pink or green. Candied orange peel. Chopped pecans. Maraschino cherries if someone was feeling extravagant. And sometimes just a dusting of powdered sugar through a lace doily. Honestly, folks in the South could make a plain biscuit look elegant if they put it on the right plate.
Amy: Well, we’d better get you out of here before your Aunt Leticia comes looking for you. What tea would you like to have with your chocolate donuts?
Della: [laughs] I certainly don’t want any herbal tea after all the medicinal tea I’ve had to serve my aunt for her achy joints. What’s something tasty you think would go well with the donuts?
Amy: I’ve gotten hooked on Wegman’s Chocolate Mint Tea ever since my sister-in-law Donna offered it at our Easter celebration. I think you will enjoy it. https://www.wegmans.com/shop/product/50312-Chocolate-Mint-Flavored-Herbal-Tea-Bags
Amy: Readers, I am thrilled to present Della’s Song by Donna Jo Stone. I can’t wait to get my physical copy of the book in the mail today and add it to my Tea Tales collection. Here are the books I have so far in the series that I helped create:
Here’s more about Della’s Song:
A tragic loss, a silenced song, and a scattered family … one North Louisiana tea room offers an unlikely reunion.
In the wake of a devastating train accident, Della Swan’s world is shattered. Her father and brother are forever changed, and the Swan Family Gospel Singers have no choice but to depend on the charity of formidable Aunt Leticia, proprietor of the Hotel Fairwood.
Of Della’s six brothers, only two remain with her at the hotel: Quiet Max, the youngest, and Frank, the pianist who lost his arm—and his heart for music. The rest are sent away to school or work. Aunt Leticia believes the children must learn to make their way in the world, effectively banishing them.
During Father’s recovery, the repercussions of his head injury make one thing clear. Life as the Swans knew it, traveling the south and sharing music, may never return. Yet Della clings to the belief that God isn’t finished with her family or their calling and sets a plan in motion to bring them together again.
When she develops an unexpected bond with Clayton Miller, the hotel’s reserved, long-time employee, his steady presence reminds her there is often more to people—and situations—than meets the eye.
The Swan Family Gospel Singers are separated by tragedy, Della’s brothers scattered to the wind. With needle and thread, faith, and a song, she finds a way to stitch them together again.
A touch of fairy tale, a spoonful of history, and a teacup of hope.
Della’s Song is a stand-alone novel in the Apron Strings Tea Tales multi-author series, and a 1930s historical with romance retelling of “The Six Swans.”
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