Dr. Raymond Barfield, a pediatric oncologist at Duke University School of Medicine and an associate professor of philosophy at Duke Divinity School, credits the protagonist of his novel, The Book of Colors (Unbridled Books), for helping him learn to be his best in all aspects of his life. "I was at a place in my life where I was ready to learn, to listen in a new way," he says. "Yslea told her story, and I listened. That sounds simple, but it's the whole secret. It changed me as a doctor and it changed me as a human."
Yslea and inspiration for The Book of Colors struck one morning while Barfield was writing, before he went into work to run the bone marrow transplant unit. "I was doodling in my sketchbook. I was blank, and just sort of waiting. That's when I felt her." He wrote 50 chapter titles and went in to work. The next day, Barfield started writing the chapters. "Yslea showed up in sentence one. She persisted. As I crept forward in the dark, holding out the dim lantern of my imagination that had been trained by voice after voice in ERs and clinic rooms, I slowly began to see her more clearly. I trusted her, and just kept writing."
Barfield's extensive work with low-income African-American children at Duke University Hospital, along with previous practice in the ERs of Atlanta and Memphis inner-city hospitals, helped him to tap in to his protagonist. The Book of Colors is the story of pregnant 19-year-old Yslea, who grew up in a crack house, and finds chaos and grace as she drifts into the lives of four people who occupy row houses along the train tracks outside of Memphis.
Barfield hopes readers will be as influenced by Yslea as he's been. "If you pass by three small houses on the railroad track, stay humble as you think about who might live there. If the Troll dawdles on the steps of your business with his pink backpack, think about the courage he might have shown in the past 24 hours. Listen when the voice of another shows up, no matter how surprising or strange, whether real or in your imagination. Be willing to be changed by what you hear."
Bringing The Book of Colors to the Javits center, for his first time at the show, Barfield is excited to connect with booksellers, librarians, and readers. "I'm most looking forward to sharing Yslea, of course, and talking to people who may find themselves affected by her." If Yslea were able to spring to life from the page, Barfield believes she would be as surprised and delighted to be attending the show as he is. "We would both be nervous about what to say. Both of us would know, though, that once someone noticed her presence, all eyes would be on her. Mine included."
Barfield signs copies of The Book of Color today, 11 a.m.– 2 p.m., at Unbridled Books' booth (TM 12).
This article appeared in the May 28, 2015 edition of PW BEA Show Daily.
