Let’s celebrate our local author, Cameron Kent!
Forsyth County Public Library is excited and proud to announce that Cameron Kent joins us this fall to celebrate his novel The Road to Devotion for our community read project, On the Same Page.
A message from Cameron Kent
Cameron Kent
In all my years of creative writing, through my novels, screenplays, poetry, short stories and songs, my primary goal has been to entertain. With The Road to Devotion, my sole purpose was to enlighten. I wanted to write something that expressed how I feel we should treat each other as human beings… not just in 1860, but in 2011 and beyond.
The vehicle I chose to express myself was the intersection of the lives of two very different women just before the outbreak of the Civil War: Sarah Talton, a struggling farmwoman, and Jacquerie Bodin, a runaway slave. Each is on her own road… one a spiritual journey, the other one more literal. Through an unlikely friendship, I wanted these two extraordinary women to learn to rise above the barriers of race and class and discover that they have much more common ground than they have differences. More than anything, they both have to overcome their fears to reach a higher level of understanding.
The Road to Devotion is rooted in faith, but not necessarily my own faith. I’m hoping the story contains universal truths about doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Each chapter begins with a Bible verse or lyrics from an old spiritual that speak to the plot and purpose of that part of the story.
Historical fiction isn’t the easiest genre to write, primarily because of the restrictions in the language of character dialogue and the detail that goes into scene description, but I confess that the vast amount of research that went into this novel was a joy for this writer, and hopefully makes the story more authentic for the reader. As you follow Sarah and Jacquerie along their journeys, you will notice a number of local landmarks in Winston, Salem, and surrounding environs. By incorporating as much local flavor as possible, my hope is that the reader can easily imagine the entire cast of characters in this unique time and place in American history, and their story comes to life in the imagination.
It took me nearly four years to write this book, but I can honestly tell you it was a labor of love. I hope you’ll enjoy reading The Road to Devotion as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you have any questions about On The Same Page, please leave a comment at the bottom of this page, or Ask Your Librarian.
On the Same Page 2011 
I thoroughly enjoyed The Road to Devotion. It touched my heart in so many ways. This is “my kind of book” and I hope to have the opportunity to hear Cameron Kent discuss the wonderful relationship between Sarah and Jacquerie. I believe God is pleased with the many lessons of love, compassion and giving within the pages of this wonderful book.
As I read the story of Sarah I kept asking myself : HOW IS THIS WOMAN GOING TO DEAL WITH HER NEW ATTITUDES TOWARD SLAVERY! Especially living in the town of Winston during the actual Civil War years.
It was so disappointing to pick up her life as a little old lady running a shop in Salem. Please write a sequel for the 1863 – 1865 period . This would make really good reading.