Hillbilly Elegy

Mamaw and Papaw’s departure
involved a bit more scandal than any of
us realized.
In 1946, Bonnie South and Papaw
were lovers. I’m not sure what this
meant in Jackson at the time—whether
they were preparing for an engagement
or just passing the time together. Bonnie
had little to say of Papaw besides the
fact that he was “very handsome.” The
only other thing Bonnie South recalled
was that, at some point in 1946, Papaw
cheated on Bonnie with her best friend
—Mamaw. Mamaw was thirteen and
Papaw sixteen, but the affair produced a
pregnancy. And that pregnancy added a
number of pressures that made right now