The Timeless Carson McCullers
Charlotte Magazine|August 2017

In 1937, an unconventional woman moved to Charlotte and began working on her best-selling novel. Eighty years later, it’s hard not to wonder whether she’d be accepted here today

Emily Harris
The Timeless Carson McCullers

ON A CHILLY AFTERNOON some time ago, a 20-something writer, ask of sherry concealed in a pocket, walked the streets of Charlotte in search of material to use in her novel.

As in other novels with a strong sense of place and time, the city would serve as a character in the story—its smells, sounds, and sights as evocative and informative as any person.

Carson McCullers spent the fall of 1937 through the spring of 1938 living here, as she drafted the outline and first chapters of her debut novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The book became an instant best seller in 1940, launching McCullers into a Bohemian-literary-Brooklyn fame that involved splitting rent with Gypsy Rose Lee after she moved to Brooklyn and having Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe over for dinner.

McCullers was 23 when she moved to Charlotte, and her time here sounds an awful lot like some creative Charlotte millennial’s stories 80 years later. She was a newlywed, fresh off a quirky wedding at her childhood home in Columbus, Georgia— Carson wore green for the ceremony. She and her husband, Reeves, made their first home together here, a big city compared to the small Georgia towns where they’d grown up and met. With dreams of New York City or Paris or both, they didn’t plan on staying long.

In Charlotte, Carson and Reeves, both aspiring writers, struck the hopeful deal of the young, artistic, and in love: Carson would work on her book for a year while Reeves worked a dull insurance job that supported them both. They’d switch roles every year. Their handicap on the eve of World War II wasn’t student loans, but wartime military service for Reeves, and their apartment options did not offer pet spas or rooftop pools.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CHARLOTTE MAGAZINEView all
‘This Is How We're Going to Make Your Child Better'
Charlotte Magazine

‘This Is How We're Going to Make Your Child Better'

Pediatric neurosurgery is technically and emotionally complex—and traditionally dominated by men. As Novant’s first female pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Erin Kiehna Richardson has had to learn the intricacies of a demanding field and battle sexism along the way

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2021
The Dumbledore of CMC
Charlotte Magazine

The Dumbledore of CMC

A surgery resident wrote a series of children’s books and created a special kind of medical magic

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2021
LGBTQ HB2+5
Charlotte Magazine

LGBTQ HB2+5

Five years after the furor of House Bill 2, the LGBTQ community—in Charlotte, in North Carolina, and across much of the nation—fights attacks on new fronts

time-read
6 mins  |
July 2021
Oh, Snap!
Charlotte Magazine

Oh, Snap!

New ‘selfie museum’ in Concord celebrates the 1990s

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2021
ALLISON LATOS
Charlotte Magazine

ALLISON LATOS

The WSOC anchor on her hard trek from one episode of loss and grief to another—and the meaning of resilience

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2021
GOOD HEALTH
Charlotte Magazine

GOOD HEALTH

For years, Charlotte has been one of the largest American cities that lacked a four-year medical school. The health care professionals who finally made it happen overcame a series of setbacks, false starts, and failures, and they plan to use their clean slate to create a new kind of community asset

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2021
Summer Partee
Charlotte Magazine

Summer Partee

From woodwork to retail, the kindergarten teacher-turned-designer has learned how to do it herself

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2021
Uptown or Downtown?
Charlotte Magazine

Uptown or Downtown?

Archives illuminate how long we’ve argued over the perennial question

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2021
NOW OPEN NOVEL ITALIAN
Charlotte Magazine

NOW OPEN NOVEL ITALIAN

Paul Verica brings a simpler version of the city’s hottest food trend to NoDa

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2021
TOP DOCTORS 2021
Charlotte Magazine

TOP DOCTORS 2021

The annual list you can't without

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2021