A Visit to the Town That Inspired The Unmaking of June Farrow

EDIT: Since the publishing of this post, Marshall, NC has suffered devastating damage from historic flooding. Carolina Flowers’ downtown shop has been destroyed. If you would like to help, please visit: Carolina Flowers’ Flood Relief Fundraiser

Sometimes it pays to read the author’s acknowledgements at the end of a book.

That’s what I learned when I came to the end of Adrienne Young’s The Unmaking of June Farrow. Hands down one of my all-time favorites, June is set in the small North Carolina town of Jasper. As mentioned in the author’s acknowledgements, Adrienne Young based the town in the book on the real town of Marshall, just outside of Asheville, NC.

If you’ve read The Unmaking of June Farrow, you’ll be familiar with some of the landmarks of Marshall that match up to Jasper: the bridge over the river (in real life the French Broad River), the courthouse with its white dome, the church and its towering steeple, and, most importantly, the flower shop. This tiny community in the Blue Ridge Mountains is a haven for artists and creatives. There are myriad art galleries, as well as thrift shops and used book stores. I had the pleasure of visiting the French Broad Exchange on Main Street and I highly recommend this quaint, quirky little used book and record shop.

Carolina Flowers Farm & Florist is the inspiration for the Farrow family flower farm (say that 10 times!). Owned by Emily Copus, the farm has flourished on reclaimed tobacco fields, a detail mentioned in the book. The downtown store, Carolina Flowers Mercantile, is a charming space with friendly employees and a gorgeous selection of dried and fresh flowers; I had to restrain myself from piling all the dahlias in our car!

(Image credit: Carolina Flowers)

It felt surreal standing on the bridge over the French Broad River. I imagined a tent spanning the bridge, full of Farrow flowers and sparkling lights. The river below flowing into the woods in the distance. I thought to myself, “where on the bank did Nathaniel attack June?” and “is there a tree that looks like the one Susanna is buried beneath?”.

I was transported into the story by just being here. The sun was shining after days of rain, revealing a perfect blue sky as the backdrop for each landmark correlated with its fictional twin. I couldn’t help but smile at the similarities between Marshall and Jasper: the red brick buildings, the bridge, the shops; and I wondered where June’s house would be.

A once in a lifetime visit, I will never forget Marshall. Our trip to this tiny, wonderful town prompted me to re-read The Unmaking of June Farrow, just to see what else Adrienne chose to base on the magic of Marshall. And of course I had to take a photo on the bridge, wearing my watch locket, just in case that red door appeared.