Kennedy Yost & Rocky Yost
ABOUT THE BOOK
Set against the backdrop of the transformative 1970s, Southern Girls Always Survive is an empowering tale of a young woman's journey to reclaim her strength and define her own destiny. Hilly Garland's dream of leaving her small Virginia town for the promise of college life is overshadowed by a harrowing encounter with a privileged peer. Yet, this Southern belle's indomitable spirit is not so easily broken. As she steps into the halls of the University of South Carolina, a sisterhood of enduring friendships awaits—the "12th Floor Girls." Together, they weave a safety net that allows Hilly to heal and grow, rediscovering the confidence and self-respect that was once shaken.
After college graduation, the girls’ getaway to Aspen is where Hilly meets the love of her life—a former lawyer by the name of Cole Harrison. While Hilly and Cole build their life together, a power-hungry government agent has his sights set on the happy couple. Aspen is fueled on cocaine and liquor, and the strait-laced lawyer from DC might be in too deep. Hilly is blindsided when the future she dreamed of with Cole ends with his murder.
Her journey comes full circle when she returns to her native Virginia soil, only to confront a chilling reality— a familiar evil has ascended to power. Standing in the shadow of the nation's capital, Hilly faces the ultimate test of courage: to challenge the sinister force that has haunted her from the beginning or to remain silent. Southern Girls Always Survive is not just a story of survival; it's a testament to the unyielding strength of a woman's spirit.
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MAIN character
MEET HILLY
Maybe after undergrad there’d be the possibility of law school. At the University of South Carolina, she always studied with fellow member of the 12th Floor Girls, the serious-minded Kathleen Conrad who became a lawyer and practiced in Washington. So maybe law as a vocation? It was in the back of Hilly’s mind. The girls were six women who bonded for life when they roomed together their freshman year on the twelth floor of Colombia Hall.
Cecelia Hillyard Garland—forever just Hilly—was a pretty youngster with blonde hair and blue eyes. An only child, she was a daddy’s girl, but she had an equally strong love for her mom, Mary Frances. They lived outside of Middlewood, pop. 1375, in Hunt County, Virginia, in the midst of fox hunting country, old money, and much history. The Garlands lived in a large brick home on one-hundred acres built in the prior century with its own name: Evergreen. But it was frayed around the edges, and her dad, John Jr., could no longer afford those edges or a mortgage he’d taken out to cover his latest business loss. Her dad was a wonderful father and a faithful husband, but not a good businessman.
Hilly had a life-changing moment one afternoon in ninth grade when she was in her fifth period English class. Principal McNally took Hilly out into the hall where he told her that her mom needed her at home. When she got there, she learned that her dad had a “hunting accident” (country Southern for suicide). Hilly was fifteen when they had to sell Evergreen, until that day had been a place of joy for Hilly, and she and her mom moved into a humble little rental cottage in the Middlewood.
Hilly already had an after-school job, working for family friend Allard Aiken, who was in his fifties. He was an independent lawyer and the leader of the small but growing Democratic Party in the conservative Republican state. Still, the Democrats of Virgina were more conservative than the Republicans in probably 80 percent of the other states. Hilly worked for Allard in the political side of his world, but she was also interested in his law practice.
By the time Hilly was eighteen, she was almost five foot ten, tall enough for a model with the face to go with it. She was a head turner, and one such head was that of rich and spoiled law school student Rolle Gilchrest. The Gilchrests were a powerful family, monetarily and politically. Rolle himself was tall and handsome, rich and endowed and connected—and a serial rapist. He’d been pursuing Hilly since she was fifteen, but she’d rebuffed him every time. Then, only thirty-six hours before she was to leave for first year college, she said yes, and what ensued was another life-changing moment. Rolle sexually assaulted Hilly, leaving her so scarred emotionally that it took her several years to overcome it. Thank goodness for the 12th Floor Girls. But Rolle was in no way gone for good.
Hilly went to Aspen where she learned the restaurant business, giving her a solid foundation for the café she later started. She had morals, and, courtesy of Mary Francis, she always seemed to know the difference between right and wrong She would laugh at a joke and could tell one, even if it was on herself. (But not vulgar jokes, a little risqué but not dirty.) Hilly always carried breath mints, never missed a dental appointment, and stood up straight. She was always prompt, punctuated her conversation with “yes, sirs” and “yes, ma’ams,” smiled when appropriate—and she was not scared of hard work.
Bottom line, Cecelia Hillyard Garland was the kind of daughter who would make any mother or father proud!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
KENNEDY
YOST
Like our protagonist Hilly Garland, Kennedy grew up in the hunt country of Virginia, picked up a degree from the University of South Carolina, and then spent the next eight years in the rock 'n' roll seventies and eighties world of Aspen, Colorado. Then back to Virginia and Delaware for a life in retail and real estate before teaming with Rocky to write Southern Girls Always Survive.
ROCKY
YOST
Born in Winchester, Virginia, all-around athlete Rocky Yost attended the Virginia Military Institute on a football scholarship. After graduation, he began a successful career in real estate. In the eighties, Rocky went to Los Angeles to attend UCLA Film School to learn to write screenplays and produce films. Returning to Virginia and his day job, real estate, Rocky wrote and produced the award-winning indie film Lilly’s Thorn. He is close with his two children: Jake Yost, a physical therapist and his daughter CeCe Yost, a former Wilhemina model and now in pre-med. Southern Girls Always Survive is his debut novel, written with his sister Mary Kennedy Yost.
UPCOMING
Cotillions
In 1996, when Grandan was ninety-six, he told his grandson, “There is a story that only I know completely, and it must not die as will I.” This story covers three generations, most of the twentieth century, and four love affairs that varied from warm and caring to tempestuous and violent.
It commenced the summer of 1931, when Grandan was a young banker in his early thirties. Into his office strolled Harry K. Thaw (Yes, the same Harry K. Thaw who in 1906 committed the “Murder of The Century.”)
This older version of Harry K. befriended the young banker, inviting Grandan to his festive Saturday afternoon Cotillions out at his recently purchased mansion, Kenilworth. The galas featured good booze in midst of Prohibition, jazz bands and beautiful women, along with an occasional celeb like Babe Ruth or WC Fields.
The summer Harry K. and Grandan became friends, and what then ensued was a cross between The Great Gatsby and Fifty Shades of Gray. Grandan fell in love for the first time with a singer named Jenny. Their affair was wonderful and warm, at first, but then came outside violence and heartbreak.
Still, Grandan lived out his love affair with Jenny that summer while Harry K. could only mentally relive his romance with the love of his life, his ex-wife Evelyn Nesbit. Back in 1906, that love triggered Thaw’s murder of the architect Stanford White.
Their tales were intertwined, filled with “wow” moments as well as secrets, including what it takes for a relationship to last. Bottom line, this book will grab you and hold you.
Praise for Southern Girls Always Survive
"Wow! What a ride! I got such a girl crush on the ladies of Southern Girls especially the beautiful and smart protagonist with the nickname of ‘Hilly’."
Gloria Morrison
CEO Dreamstreet Entertainment
Producer/Director/Writer
