Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home
The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home in Savannah is open most every afternoon except Thursdays and major holidays and is located in the heart of Savannah, just steps away from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
She lived in this home as a baby in 1925 until she was 13 years old. For a tour outside of the home’s usual open hours, you can contact in advance to enquire about making a special arrangement. See the “Visit” page on the home’s website for details at flanneryoconnorhome.org. Savannah has a population of approximately 146,000.
The Writer
A writer with deeply Roman Catholic roots, O’Connor’s short stories captured Southern life through dramatic characters, dark circumstances, and ending twists that seem surprising until you take a step back and reflect on it. She allows readers to see life at its ugliest and its most meaningful.
Some say the fact that she passed away at the young age of 39, due to Lupus (1964), may have contributed to her robust view of life and the intensity of all she wanted to convey.
Most Popular Novels
Wise Blood (1952) is perhaps her most popular novel, and was followed by A Good Man is Hard to Find (1955). Wise Blood was adapted into a 1979 film directed by and starring John Huston.
Yale scholar Amy Hungerford’s lecture about Wise Blood can be viewed through an Open Yale Course at oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-291/lecture-3.
We also enjoyed Everything That Rises Must Converge, with its Tennessee Williams-like characters and Alfred Hitchcock-like twist ending.
Her non-fiction Prayer Journal (2013), published after being found and compiled many years after her death, sheds light on her inner mind as well.
This is the seventh stop on our Georgia Author Adventures Trail.
Patricia Smart
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