‘One Summer Day’

Local author Saundra Jo Hayman has a new book coming in December called "One Summer Day.”

Saundra Jo Hayman, known as Sandy in Caroline County, penned her first book, "One Summer Night" to tell the story of the trauma of an unwed mother in the 1950s, how she was treated by family and society, and going to a home for unwed mothers. It is based on the true story of her mother, named Anna in the book, and how she dealt with teenage pregnancy as the result of a date rape. The way she was treated by society unfolds, telling of a cruel mistreatment and shaming by family and community. "My mom's story is not unique, even though at the time I thought it was," Sandy says.

The story is local, set in Denton and Greensboro, with nearby familiar Delaware towns Rehoboth Beach and Wilmington. Because the people involved in Anna’s story are well known and are still prominent in Caroline County, the names were changed.

When it was discovered that Anna was pregnant out of wedlock, Anna's family was not sympathetic, blamed her for the rape, and coerced her into giving the child up for adoption through a home for unwed mothers in Wilmington, Delaware. This home, and others like it, Sandy says, "acted like they were doing a good thing for these girls. But (in reality) they were a big baby market."

She writes of her mother’s struggles throughout a long troubling year, and how she finally came to terms with her parents’ treatment. Her mother also found forgiveness. "I had to tell my mother's story because she wasn't able to.” “A lot of people relate to what my mother went through," Sandy says, "I've had people approach me at the Walmart parking lot or at Clayton Farms wanting to talk. I never expected this reception to the story and the connection to so many other women.”

It was those connections and wanting to continue telling her mother’s story that led Sandy to write the sequel, "One Summer Day.” The second book touches on deep issues such as suicide, arranged marriage, mental illness and generational trauma.

In the second book Anna reluctantly moves back to the farm with her new husband, Buddy, and raises two daughters. She learns to love the farm until her ex-boyfriend returns from the military. The stress of his return after 12 years away causes Anna emotional trauma which is then passed onto her daughters Maddie and Kate. Sandy, named Maddie in the book, wants to get far away and goes to college where she meets a man from Brazil. They elope to marry and live in Brazil. After seven years in Brazil, Maddie leaves an abusive and unfaithful husband. She arrives back to the Eastern Shore with no home, no job, no money and a son to raise as she was forced to give up everything in exchange for her son. The story is set during the 60's era of Vietnam, Woodstock, and quickly changing societal norms.