Chicken Bridge Road

During the mid-twentieth century, in the rural south of Chatham County, Pittsboro, North Carolina, Pauline Darnell Shore, a young woman pregnant and with six children at home finds herself trapped in an abusive and dangerous marriage with Clyde Findell Shore. Despite her attempts to seek help at the Sheriff's office falling on deaf ears, desperation drives her to take matters into her own hands. The night of December 30th, 1958, Pauline spirals into a survival mode to save herself and the children. She shoots and kills Clyde with a 12-gauge shotgun in their home on Chicken Bridge Road, making headline news, Jury Holds Slaying of Husband Justified. The local sheriff admitted to the news reporters that Mrs. Shore had been in contact with his office several times, but during this time period the Law called her problems a family matter and turned a blind eye to her crying pleas. Pauline, while a warrior to many, collapses into an abyss of self-imprisonment, and ultimately being confined to a mental institution to rid the demons of guilt from taking a life. In the hospital, she bears her soul with the doctor and shares her entire story. Through barbaric shock treatments she has little hope to heal, until a vision of her heavenly father's spirit speaks and she comprehends the true strength of forgiveness that sets her free from past bondage. Pauline’s new freedom reunites her with the children. Chicken Bridge Road is comprised of Pauline’s memories. It’s a heartfelt and gritty story with many life messages, mingled with southern blues and folk music, moonshining, tobacco farming, and the unbreakable maternal bond. This landmark domestic abuse case for all its tragedy will become one of the most important in state history.