Home&Harvest Magazine Sept/Oct Issue 2020

Local Author Showcase Grapefruit Parlor: An Interview with Local Author Ginger Rankin

By Ashley Centers Each year 40.3 million people are trapped in slavery and sex trafficking around the world.

Hundreds of thousands of those sales or trades occur in the United States. Ginger Rankin, outraged that this story is one with no end, has dedicated her life to speaking up and out against these outrageous acts of violence and those affected by it. Her latest book, “Grapefruit Parlor,” brings attention to the modern slave trade through the life of Dolores, who undergoes a search for self-worth and meaning.

When we first meet Dolores she has returned to the island where she spent the first six years of her life, in an initially unguided search for self-discovery. Dolores’ life, this far, has been full of disappointment, bad luck, poor life decisions and their unfortunate consequences.

Although she doesn’t say it directly, she subconsciously blames her mother—who abandoned her as an infant—for much of her problems, eschewing personal responsibility until much later.

“Grapefruit Parlor is written with a kind of passion that included my putting myself in the mind of the protagonist and actually feeling the chaos, anger, lack of attachment and deep sadness of a young woman who was desperate to know who she was and why she should go on,” Ginger said.

While living in the Caribbean, Ginger spotted an old wooden sign reading Grapefruit Parlor, when the van she was in turned a sharp corner. Although she took immediate interest in the sign she said she didn’t have the story until years later. And quite a story it is! Not only does Ginger use Dolores’ story to broach worth and not having a sense of belonging in this world but she also addresses slavery, alcoholism and addiction, and sex trafficking. These issues, especially slavery, have outraged Ginger since childhood, so she channeled that energy into this book.

To write “Grapefruit Parlor” Ginger put herself in the mind of the protagonist, Dolores, and let herself feel the chaos, anger, lack of attachment and deep sadness of a young woman who was desperate to know who she was and why she should go on. She did this so well that as I was reading I found myself in Dolores’ head and living her struggles, joys, defeats, and ultimately her triumph alongside her. Dolores’s story is unfortunately a very common one and something that Ginger is passionate about bringing awareness and change to.