Historical fiction book centers on Washington

When historical fiction author Ray Hazel was invited by Washington native Anne Butler to a 50-year class reunion, he had no way of knowing how inspiring the visit would be.

“I was sitting at a 50th class reunion with Anne, and I realized that Washington, Iowa has preserved part of our history, and somehow it still lives within the people that are living there,” he said. “This is a unique place … we were having breakfast in a diner there, and Anne told me ‘my parents and I and my sisters used to sit in these same chairs at the same table.’ … You don’t find that anywhere else, not very often.”

Hazel ended up making the historical community a featured location in his book, “The Diary of Macy Allen,” which follows the life of an orphaned Irish immigrant finding her place in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th century.

“What really struck me is the landmarks in Washington, because really, they’re preserved,” he said. “The community has maintained the same legacy that it had when Anne was a kid, and it’s been passed down. It’s amazing how well it’s been preserved … when I was sitting in the square, I could visualize what it was like, and I thought, ‘It’s still here, it’s not destroyed.’ It’s a very rare commodity.”

Hazel said the story’s main character, Macy Allen, was based on a lost relative he found through genealogy research.

“She’s kind of a lost relative of mine … there’s a lot of truth behind it, and I kind of lost track of her, but I can see where she turns up in different ways,” he said. “You pick up a certain amount of documentation through ancestry.com and that type of stuff … but the story is motivated by finding out that she was in that area.”

While the book has an array of settings outside of Washington, Hazel said the Southeast Iowa town was instrumental to the story.

“The book itself has generated a huge amount of interest all over the country, and I think without Washington, Iowa I would never have been to weave in the story and the landmarks and the things that are valuable up there,” he said. “This book would never have evolved without that because I don’t know how I would’ve blended it all together.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com