For a long time, I thought perseverance meant toughing it out, no matter the cost…
To persevere meant to barrel through pain, to run roughshod over myself in favor of some larger goal. Tired? Sad? Worn out? Breaks were out of the question, as was treating myself kindly.
Perseverance might as well have been synonymous with punishment. In my mind, there was no better or nobler solution to any problem than to just power through.
Violet, the sixteen-year-old narrator of The Last True Poets of the Sea, understands perseverance similarly. Her parents love to tell the story of how Violet’s great-great-great grandmother survived a shipwreck off the coast of Maine, and they celebrate her grit and her determination, her survival through sheer force of will.
But after Violet’s younger brother attempts suicide, Violet doesn’t feel she’s inherited the knack of persevering at all. She’s shipped off to Maine for the summer, where she vows to keep her head down and slog away at her summer job at the local aquarium. Violet doesn’t feel she has the strength to swim up from a shipwreck, to persevere, and she beats herself up for not demonstrating the fortitude of her forebear.
As she makes new friends in Maine, however, her understanding of perseverance begins to change. She is shocked when her new friend Orion advises her to be gentle with herself; she is grateful when her love interest Liv suggests that Violet, in a moment of crisis, lie on the ground. As she uncovers more of her great-great-great grandmother’s story, Violet learns that perseverance is more nuanced than she originally thought; that even her great-great-great grandmother wasn’t all grit and determination, but that she, too, experienced moments of doubt, sadness, and confusion.
Violet comes to understand the importance of treating herself gently, and she begins to see this gentleness as an essential part of perseverance. By the end of the novel, she tells herself – and others who might be struggling – “let yourself be stuck.” I think Violet would tell us that being stuck – that allowing yourself to feel those moments of confusion and doubt and sadness – is a crucial part of persevering.
In the summer months, I have been swimming laps at an outdoor pool. I try to be as gentle as I can in my stroke. I skip flip-turns because they make me dizzy. I take breaks when I get too tired. Swimming has helped me see perseverance in a new light: I think about my hand entering the water gracefully, about kicking slowly, about gliding. I look down and study the black line beneath me and the sunlight refracting on the floor of the pool.
Determination, grit – yes, these are elements of persevering, but so are beauty, grace and calm. I’m learning to find the gentleness in perseverance.
I hope The Last True Poets of the Sea will help you do the same…
– Julia Drake, NEW BOOK JOY Guest Author
About the Author
Julia Drake
grew up outside Philadelphia.
As a teenager, she played some of Shakespeare’s best heroines in her high school theater program and their stories would stay with her forever.
She received her BA in Spanish from Williams College, and her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, where she also taught writing to first-year students.
She currently works as a book coach for aspiring writers and teaches creative writing classes for Writopia Lab, a nonprofit that fosters love of writing in young adults.
She lives in Philadelphia with her partner and their rescue rabbit, Ned.
You can read more about her and her books on her beautiful and witty website www.juliadrakewriter.com.
Conversation
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