Diane McKinney-Whetstone: Philly as part of a writer's soul

It's hard to think of a contemporary writer as quintessentially Philadelphian as Diane McKinney-Whetstone. The Chestnut Hill resident, who grew up in West Philadelphia, creates characters firmly rooted in the city and its neighborhoods, its parks and streets, its slums and mansions. Anchored by the city, her stories explore the nitty-gritty of life for ordinary people who live on either side of racial and class divides. Her best-selling 1996 debut, Tumbling, was set in South Philadelphia during the 1940s and '50s. Successive novels have explored the city and its residents during different eras, the '60s in Tempest Rising and Leaving Cecil Street, the '70s in Blues Dancing, and the '80s in Trading Dreams at Midnight. McKinney-Whetstone, 62, returns to the '60s in her sixth and latest novel, Lazaretto. The 1860s, that is. Her first historical novel, it opens on the night of Lincoln's assassination and traces the fates of a diverse array of characters - fates that converge at the Lazaretto, a quarantine station and hospital in Philadelphia used to screen immigrants.

"Lazaretto" comes out just as you're celebrating the 20th anniversary of "Tumbling," which gave you a national reputation almost overnight and allowed you to quit your day job. What's different about your process today?

I still write every morning at 5. I discovered this when I was initially crafting Tumbling. I had worked at that point as a USDA Forest Service public affairs officer for 12 years, and it was the only time I had for myself when I didn't have to negotiate my time with my work, my family, or my kids. [Her twins, daughter Taiwo and son Kehinde, are now 34.]

Twenty years later, and it's still my time.

How much research did you have to do about 19th-century Philadelphia?

I'm not a historian, and research is the least-favorite part of the process for me. I'm much better at imagining things. . . . But my husband [Greg] loves to do research, so that's really helpful.

What made you want to jump back 100 years in history for this novel?

I became fasinated by the yellow fever epidemic [of the 1790s] that almost decimated Philadelphia. Then I discovered the Lazaretto, which they built to guard against another epidemic.

I had no idea we had something like that in Philadelphia. I think it processed more immigrants than went through Ellis Island. It was a real necessity during the high quarantine season, from June to September. . . . But, yes, it was a kind of barrier, and I think ships coming in from places like the Caribbean were held longer because they came from hotter climates and were thought to be carrying more disease. My suspicion is that it was a way they could hold back brown people.

"Lazaretto" banks a good deal on its historical setting at the end of the Civil War, an era of celebration for many African Americans. One can't help noticing a parallel in the election of Barack Obama. He came into office in 2008 just as your last novel, "Trading Dreams at Midnight," came out.

I remember when the novel came out. I was consumed with the election. There was this real sense of hope. What I thought I would never see in my lifetime had come to pass.

But something else also came along with that hope, the unexpected underbelly of the United States . . . the underside of things. It seemed something had cracked. So all this toxic stuff has been released into our world, and it's there around us every day.

The book doesn't merely tackle racism between whites and blacks. You also write of the tension among African Americans with different skin tones. Were things really stratified on that basis?

Yes, the mulattos, as they were called, really were treated as being a rung above everyone else. [Skin tone] was a real predictor of how well a person could rise in society. . . . And, on balance, people with lighter skin did better.

Your novels feature ad hoc families unconnected by blood. "Tumbling" was about a couple who raised two babies left on their doorstep. In "Lazaretto," Meda creates a family with the two orphans. Why is the idea important to you?

I think part of me thinks that's what community should be about, when people who are not related by blood . . . can come together because of their humanity.

Does the city still inspire you?

I love so much about it, it's my childhood, it's part of me . . . part of my soul, as it were. I can't separate it from me.

As a city, it's fascinating because there are so many contraries to it. On the one hand, it's a world-class city. . . . On the other, it can feel very small, very provincial. . . . There's a lot of old money here, but there is also incredible poverty. And on the one hand, it's very welcoming to visitors, but on the other hand, there are places outside your own neighborhood you're afraid to go.

These contraries attract me still. It's what I negotiate as I am writing. I'm trying to resolve them.

tirdad@phillynews.com

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