Former New Madrid resident pens first book

jillb@standard-democrat.com

ST. LOUIS -- Writers often get the advice to "write what you know about."

Lee Hatley in his first work of fiction did just that, incorporating the places and history of where he grew up to create "The Last Setback Levee." The former New Madrid resident describes his first book as historical fiction, covering life in the Bootheel from the mid-1930s through the early 1970s.

"There is always a trilogy of stuff in a southern book -- farming, religion and the folklore that goes along with the South," said Hatley in a phone interview from his home.

"The Last Setback Levee," he said, is the story of Bonita Carroll, a young woman struggling to turn the swampland she inherited into a profitable farm. She is opposed in her effort by her brother, husband and best friend.

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