Shelly Chatterelli Launches Debut Novel at Zingerman’s Roadhouse

A celebration of Appalachian food and fiction

“One of my most vivid memories from down the hollers in Kentucky is, before the sun came up, the smell of coffee, bacon, and biscuits just riding on the breeze through the window,” recalled Shelly Chatterelli, author of the debut novel Knowin’ Sugar, published last month by Fauve Press.

How fitting, then, that the launch event for Chatterelli’s book would be held at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, home to the kind of hearty American fare you’d find in a classic Southern kitchen. A sold-out crowd showed up on July 14 to hear the author discuss her work—a coming-of-age tale set in the 1940s, in the Appalachian mountains of Southeast Kentucky, where Chatterelli grew up.

Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig moderated the wide-ranging talk, which touched on themes of food, family, and the power of fiction. Chatterelli, an award-winning Ann Arbor-based writer and poet, also spoke about her long, winding journey in composing and publishing the novel.

“The book came from a conversation I had with my mom 25 years ago,” she said. Realizing how little she knew about her mother’s childhood, she started asking questions, and the rich stories she heard inspired her. “I hung up the phone, and I wrote for three weeks straight.” 

The result: a first draft of what would eventually become Knowin’ Sugar. No wonder its dedication page begins, “To Mommy and Daddy, who brought us together with food, stories, and song.” 

The “knowin’” in the book’s title refers to a mystical Appalachian folk tradition, Chatterelli explained. “A knowin’ is an intuition,” she said. “It’s a gift, whether you believe it’s from God or the universe.” Sugar, the novel’s 13-year-old protagonist, feels these otherworldly premonitions, which the women in Chatterelli’s own family experienced at times, too. 

As Ari and Chatterelli shared their insights, guests enjoyed a Roadhouse menu specially curated for the occasion: buttermilk biscuits with honey, butter, and blackberry preserves (“Every night after supper, I’d eat warm buttermilk biscuits spread with blackberry jam while Poppy told us about his day,” reads a line in the novel); fried chicken sliders; and blueberry hand pies. 

A lively audience Q and A followed the discussion, with a number of attendees saying they’d already read and relished the book. Several also commented on the specificity of the Kentucky dialect woven into the characters’ dialogue—an artistic decision Chatterelli said she stuck to in spite of external pressure to dilute her story’s authenticity. (Take note: an audiobook narrated by the author herself may be coming in the future!)

Asked to read a passage, Chatterelli chose the book’s poetic opening chapter—written in verse—which pays tribute to the splendor of the Appalachian natural world. It concludes: 

… the magic of Heaven still finds us,
touching everything along its way—
the mountain laurel and the whippoorwill,
the coyotes and the rattlers, 
all the same.

That magic finds us.
A quiet so loud you know it’s Heaven.

It can find you too
if you stand long enough
to listen. 

Those at the Roadhouse this past Tuesday evening were certainly listening. And amid the deeply personal novel, the vibrant conversation, and the flavorful food, there was unmistakable magic to be found. 

Photos by Jennifer Mazza Photography

Have a taste for good food and great reads? The Roadhouse Book Club might be for you! Learn more and become a member here.