The Day I Found Thomas Wolfe's Angel

by Violet Rebecca Jones

As an English teacher who grew up within an hour's drive of Thomas Wolfe's home in Asheville, NC, I am ashamed to say that I never thought of where his angel of Look Homeward Angel fame might be, or even if it ever truly existed. Then I happened upon Oakdale Cemetery in the nearby town of Hendersonville that made me question why I had never sought this mystery.


There, in all its beautiful glory, stands the angel. She is beautiful, standing tall and majestic, reaching heavenward. Wings outstretched with power and grace, she seems to be reaching for something beyond this world.


It is not often that I ramble through cemeteries, but when I do, I often find things that sadden me, as I'm sure they do for many people. There is the time that I visited the grave of a friend's father, and on my way out noticed a line of graves from the early 1860's of which all the family members had died within a few months of one another. One was of a son that died in the Civil War, and another of his father, a doctor who served in the same war, who died a few weeks later. I couldn't help but think it was of a broken heart. In the same line of graves was that of the mother, who died a few days following the death of her young child from typhoid. Again, I thought of a broken heart. It is hard to think of the tragedies this family faced. I wondered if there were other children, and if so, what happened to them with both parents gone and, most likely their oldest brother, dead as well. Those questions were never answered. I didn't pursue an investigation, didn't trek over to the courthouse and peruse old records, although perhaps I should have, but the memory of this sad family has stayed with me for over ten years now. Perhaps one day I will go back and look up records for these people, but it would not ease their pain, and it probably would not ease the thoughts from my memory. Sometimes it is truly better to let them rest in peace.


Somehow, I did not feel this sense of tragedy in Oakdale Cemetery this day. Perhaps it was my joy in seeing this beloved angel of literary fame, or perhaps it was the angel herself who truly is looking homeward to a better, heavenly home. Either way, I am glad I found this beautiful lady.

Text and Photographs: Copyright 2014 Violet Rebecca Jones