Rain on a Strange Roof

In a moving book of literary criticism woven together with personal memoir, Jan Whitt's genre-bending scholarship about the search for identity, the recovery of the past, and the primacy of place emphasizes universal themes of hope and courage that will resonate with us all. -Diane L. Borden, professor and director, School of Journalism & Media Studies, San Diego State University One longs to be in Jan Whitt's classroom as she interprets To Kill a Mockingbird with her students. This story of her life-intertwined with the literature that saved her life-is the next best thing. -Barbara Elmore, former managing editor, The Waco Tribune-Herald Whitt's singular memoir of a childhood lived on the edges of profound loss and despair is all the more compelling for the way she chooses to tell her story. Melding the shards of personal experience with the literary works that sustained her and the ordinary lives that fascinated her as a young journalist, Whitt creates an autobiographical tour de force. -Patricia A. Sullivan, professor, Department of English, University of Colorado at Boulder

A scholar of Southern literature and culture, Jan Whitt has written a personal narrative about adoption, childhood abuse, and fifty years of searching for her family in rural Appalachia. This book unflinchingly explores death and loss at the same time that it celebrates the transformative power of love and literature.A scholar of Southern literature and culture, Jan Whitt has written a personal narrative about adoption, childhood abuse, and fifty years of searching for her family in rural Appalachia. A testament to the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit, Rain on a Strange Roof unflinchingly explores death and loss at the same time that it celebrates the transformative power of love and literature. An award-winning professor, Whitt teaches courses in American and British literature, literary journalism, media, and women’s studies. Quoting from films, novels, and short stories about the American South, Whitt weaves a narrative about the necessity for human connection and the desire for home.