Understory

For Pauletta Hansel, who grew up in the coalfields of southeastern Kentucky, the history of her female ancestors traces back to her tenth great-grandmother, a "tobacco bride" shipped from England to Jamestown, Virginia, in exchange for 150 pounds of tobacco leaves. This family line migrated from the Chesapeake Bay area to the mountains of North Carolina and, eventually, into southwestern Appalachia. But as Hansel explored archives and artifacts, she realized this ancestry was incomplete, memorialized solely through male lines. Understory uses poetry and prose to chronicle the untold history of Hansel's foremothers through genealogical investigation, her travels across the US, and her own memories. With a captivating and contemplative voice, Hansel weaves found language with verse to make visible those whose lives have been hidden between the lines of documents left behind. She does not shy away from hard truths, such as her family's displacement of Indigenous people, enslavement of those of African descent, and support of the Confederacy. In revealing generations of women whose experiences can only be understood through others' narratives, Understory is not simply one family's story—it is a microcosm of Appalachian, American, and women's histories.