Carbonear grandmother inspires Missouri author
By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Kelli Knope is a stay-at-home mom, substitute teacher, and writer from St. Louis, Missouri. Recently, she self-published her first novel, Searching for Charlotte. The book is set in Carbonear, where her grandmother, Shirley Moores, was raised.
Shirley Moores grew up in a large Carbonear family as one of 11 children. She moved to the United States after marrying her husband, Paul Grundig Sr.
“My grandfather was in the (American) air force and stationed in Newfoundland,” said Knope. “He asked her on a date on multiple occasions when he saw her around town and she said no. Finally, she said yes and the rest was history.”
But Moores never got Carbonear off her mind.
“She just loved home so much, and she really missed home after she came to the ‘States, and she expressed that a lot to me when I was growing up, and how she saw so much Canadian in me,” said Knope.
Moores would come back to Newfoundland every summer to visit Knope’s aunts. When Knope was 10, she accompanied her grandmother on the trip and got to spend a couple of days in Carbonear.
“It was just so cool,” said Knope. “I just loved it there. I loved the small-town feel. I loved how the ocean was right there. It was really cool, and staying in her childhood home was a lot of the inspiration. I could see the house as I was writing the book.”
Knope said the differences between the Carbonear depicted in the book and the real Carbonear are due to it being a work of fiction.
Searching for Charlotte is a mystery novel set in Carbonear in 1956. It follows 17-year-old Anna Lockland, who is in her last year of high school and trying to find her place in the world. Her younger sister, the titular Charlotte, is in her first year of high school and having trouble making friends.
“She’s been having some patterns of staying out late and hanging out with the wrong people and then, all of a sudden, she goes missing,” Knope said of Charlotte.
Not satisfied with the police’s handling of the case, Anna takes the search for her sister into her own hands, with the help of her best friend and the local bad boy. Charlotte visits Anna in her dreams, giving her clues about her whereabouts. Knope says Moores was a fan of mystery television programs, and that Searching for Charlotte is a book she would have enjoyed.
“My grandma, she was such a strong woman who really just wanted me to be my own person and pursue my passions,” said Knope. “She was literally my best friend.”
Knope began writing after Moores passed away. “This is kind of my way of working through grief, I would say. There’s a lot of themes of that in this book.”
Knope has not been to Carbonear since the trip with her grandmother, but hopes to visit again in the not-so-distant future. The Carbonear Public Library told her they purchased her book, and that they would like her to come do an author event.