Books
Born in the shadow of loss and torn between two worlds, Saskia Nash’s life is a tapestry of magic, history, and identity. In her debut novel, Julie Harthill Turner brings to life Saskia’s journey as the daughter of a fiercely independent German folklorist and an exuberant American historian. Struggling with questions of belonging, love, and legacy, Saskia wonders, “Am I a failure as a German daughter or a success as an American one?”
Caught between her mother’s belief in ancestral magic and her father’s faith in America’s promise, Saskia must reconcile her mother’s haunting absence with her father’s larger-than-life presence. Along the way, she faces the failings of the Catholic Church, accepts her bisexuality, and discovers her own voice amidst the chaos. Guided by her grandfather’s wisdom and magical moments from her heritage, Saskia navigates a world steeped in old-world mysticism and modern realities.
With humor, heartbreak, and whimsy, A Date with the Fairy Drag Queen explores identity, family, and the enduring power of storytelling. For anyone who has felt torn between worlds or struggled to define themselves, this novel is a poignant reminder that our stories—both inherited and created—shape who we are.
---Cindy H. Cunningham, PhD, founder of Wellspring Writing Collective and author of Wild Woman: Memoir in Pieces
A Date with the Fairy Drag Queen
Saskia Nash has an idyllic childhood in Germany. Raised by her father (Jack Nash), and grandfather “Opa” (Otto Stein) after her mother dies in childbirth, Saskia’s world is filled with love, daffodils, constellations, magic circles, and the certainty that the only monsters are imaginary ones lurking under her bed.
When Jack announces they are moving to America, Saskia’s world comes crashing down. Torn from her grandfather, and thrust into a strange new place, Saskia is an outsider in a world where she soon learns some monsters aren’t imaginary. She’s learning a new language, exploring her faith and questioning her sexuality. She feels like a freak. Jack is consumed by his career at a small East Coast Jesuit college, Otto is far away, and Saskia doesn’t know where she belongs.
Saskia is drawn to the progressive spirituality of the Jesuits. Most of her classmates are seminarians. She doesn’t mean to fall in love with Allen. When she finds herself pregnant, Fr. H will go to great lengths to protect his star seminarian. Saskia is sent away to “recover” at an AIDS hospice where she is assigned as a companion to a dying drag queen. Ed begs Saskia to grant his one final wish-to resurrect Marlena Merlot for his last performance before he dances his way to The Fairy Drag Queen.
Alternating between early 1970s Germany and the East Coast of America in the early 90s, A Date With The Fairy Drag Queen is a story of chosen family, queer platonic love, and learning to live while letting go of the past.
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