The Original Jolene

Who was that little girl named Jolene, who met Dolly Parton at a Michigan concert in 1971 and unknowingly sparked a cultural echo? The Original Jolene doesn't ask to be understood--it simply tells the story as it was lived.

With a voice both spare and piercing, this novel blends memory and myth, music history and private truth, nostalgia and humor.

It's a quiet narrative stitched from overlooked fragments: faded photographs, half-heard songs, unspoken grief, and the soft ache of being misremembered.

Jolene doesn't seek recognition. She seeks honesty.

This isn't the version others expected. It's the one she remembers.