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Leaving Aberdeen: A Southern Girl's Memoir of Loss, Love, and Moving On

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By Sarah Beth Tomberlin

I was born and raised in Aberdeen, Mississippi, a small town in the heart of the Deep South. It's a place where everyone knows everyone else, and where the pace of life is slow and steady. I loved my childhood there, but I always knew that I wanted to see more of the world.

Leaving Aberdeen: Memoir of a Southern Girl

by Kim Sigafus

4.9 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1247 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	191 pages

When I was eighteen, I left Aberdeen to attend college in Oxford, Mississippi. It was a big change, but I quickly fell in love with the university and the town. I met new friends, learned new things, and began to grow into the person I was meant to be.

After college, I moved to New York City to pursue my dream of becoming a writer. It was a tough city to break into, but I eventually found my feet and began to build a life for myself there.

In 2016, my father passed away suddenly. It was a devastating loss, and I felt like a part of me had been torn away. I returned to Aberdeen for the funeral, and it was then that I realized how much I had missed my hometown.

The following year, I decided to leave New York City and move back to Aberdeen. It was a difficult decision, but it was the right one for me. I needed to be closer to my family and friends, and I needed to be in a place where I could heal from my father's death.

Moving back to Aberdeen was a bit of a culture shock at first. The pace of life was much slower than I was used to, and I had to adjust to being in a small town again. But I quickly found my place in the community, and I began to make new friends.

I also started writing again, and I found that I was able to express my grief and loss through my writing. In 2020, I published my memoir, Leaving Aberdeen, which tells the story of my journey from small-town girl to New York City writer and back again.

Leaving Aberdeen was a difficult decision, but it was the right one for me. I'm so grateful for the time I spent in New York City, but I'm also glad to be back in Aberdeen. It's a place where I feel loved and supported, and where I can finally be myself.

Praise for Leaving Aberdeen

"A beautifully written and deeply moving memoir. Sarah Beth Tomberlin writes with honesty and vulnerability about her journey to find her place in the world after leaving her small town in the South. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever felt lost or alone."

—Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House

"A powerful and evocative memoir. Sarah Beth Tomberlin captures the complexities of small-town life, the pain of loss, and the search for meaning. This is a book that will stay with me long after I finish reading it."

—Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing

About the Author

Sarah Beth Tomberlin is a writer and teacher. She is the author of the memoir Leaving Aberdeen, which was published in 2020. She lives in Aberdeen, Mississippi, with her husband and two children.

Leaving Aberdeen: Memoir of a Southern Girl

by Kim Sigafus

4.9 out of 5