Author Event: Justice House Shadows

Important Update Regarding Meeting Usage During Library Renovation

During 2026, we will be undergoing a renovation to better serve the people of Dearborn County. 

Due to the renovation, access to the Youth Services Department will be closed to the public during January and February. You will still be able to use the Ewbank Meeting Room throughout this closure, but our procedures for using the room have been modified:

  • Please enter the library via the High St. entrance. This entrance provides direct access to the Ewbank Meeting Room only. To access other areas of the library, you must use the Mary St. or Parking Lot entrances.
  • Once inside, please call our Adult Services Department at 812-537-2775 Ext. 1125. Let us know that you have arrived and provide your group's name. A staff member will come to unlock the room for your group.
  • If you need any assistance at any time during your meeting, please call 812-537-2775 Ext. 1125 and a staff member will come to help.
  • When your meeting has finished, please call 812-537-2775 Ext. 1125 again to let us know. Please leave your clipboard in the room. A staff member will come to lock the room and collect the clipboard. There is no need to wait for us.

We are excited to share our upgraded spaces with you once renovations are complete. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to improve your library.

Program Type:

Author Visit

Age Group:

Everyone
Please note you are looking at an event that has already happened.

Program Description

Local author Ron Nicholson will present a program on his debut novel, Justice House Shadows.

He will start with an introduction, followed by a reading from the book. Then it is time for Q&A. Afterward there will be a chance to purchase the book.

Stop by to support a local writer and maybe walk away with a present to give for the holidays.

Betty Brogan is quite possibly the last Southern Belle. Born unbelievably beautiful into a prosperous family in an otherwise poor Appalachian town, Betty is spoiled, self-involved, entitled, and outrageous. She refuses to follow the rules because the rules are for everyone else. And yet, it’s nearly impossible to not like her because she is so full of life, kind, and generous. Betty is the sun and everyone else simply lives in her orbit. From her traumatized, shy housekeeper Cora to damaged war veteran Handyman Hank, and from tenacious Granny Sutton and her pet goose Clark Gable to Granny’s “adopted” daughter, Sissy, who is both physically disabled and Black, everyone in Summitville lives in Betty’s shadow and in the shadow of her grand home, Justice House. Here you’ll meet many of her lovers (and there are a lot of them), the rambunctious twins who wreck her house and steal her heart, the town’s football hero, Paul Ridley, as well as B.C., who can’t seem to outrun his youthful Summer of Betty, the befuddled Reverend Jonah, the tragic Everett Thornton, and so many others who populate this homage to small Southern towns and the colorful, secretive, but good people who live there. Not to mention her unique dog Hush Puppy.

Told through a series of short stories, Betty’s life breathes through her interactions with the citizens of Summitville, taking her through the tragic, sudden death of her parents, the turbulent Vietnam War, a series of love affairs, the loss of her greatest love, and the family she builds around her from childhood until her last breath at Justice House.