WomensHistoryReads interview: Kelly O'Connor McNees

Twitter is both a wonderful tool for and a wonderful distraction from writing. Classic blessing/curse situation for writers. But it was on Twitter that I first became aware of Kelly O'Connor McNees and her debut novel THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT a few years back. Read below for the gap in the historical record that inspired Kelly to write that novel, as well as her latest historical inspiration and current novel, UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.

Greer: How would you describe what you write?

Kelly: I find stories in the footnotes of history—things that have been forgotten or never explored, and people (usually women) who played a role and yet never got credit for it. My first book, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, grew out of the fact that there are several months missing from LMA's journals in the summer and fall of 1855. In July, she moved to Walpole, NH, with her family and was fairly bogged down with obligations to them, despite her desire to write. By November, she was living on her own in Boston and making a living from her writing. I could find nothing in biographies of her or in her own writing that explained what happened during this period to prompt such a change in course, so it felt like the perfect opportunity to create a story.

In my new novel, Undiscovered Country, I explore the romantic relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and AP journalist Lorena Hickok. Hick, as she was known, had a huge influence on Eleanor's personal and professional life, and also an influence on New Deal policy. And yet her work is not well known. I wanted to see if I could imagine Hick's voice, and her inner life as she experienced this tumultuous time in her own life and in the life of America. 

Greer: Sounds wonderful. I loved your piece on Hick at The Millions. And I always love to hear what other authors are reading. What’s the last book that blew you away?

Kelly: Lately I have been reading a lot of historical fiction written for a middle grade audience (age 9 to 12) because I think some of these authors are doing really imaginative, exciting things with their work and I want to learn from them. I was blown away by The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. I cried many times reading this novel, and that is pretty rare for me. There was something about this deeply sympathetic protagonist, Ada, who is sent away from London during World War II. Ada has been abused and is a deeply wounded girl. She does not know how to love or even trust other people. But through her relationship with Susan, the woman who takes in Ada and her brother, Ada slowly begins to heal. I cannot wait to read this book with my daughter when she is old enough. It is truly marvelous. 

Greer: What do you find most challenging or most exciting about researching historical women?

Kelly: Research is all about discovery, and it's also an essential part of my creative process. The details I stumble upon inspire scenes and plot twists that I might never be able to imagine. Truth is stranger and more fascinating than fiction, it turns out--it feels like a treasure hunt. That's what makes it exciting but also challenging, because when do you stop? At what point does research become a way of procrastinating? So I try to walk that line carefully, gathering the raw material I need, but never letting the search for it and the desire for historical authenticity overshadow the work of storytelling. If you aren't telling a good story, no amount of research will save the novel!

Greer: Truth. No one ever said, "I loved reading that novel so much! All the facts were so accurate."

Kelly: Now I want to know the last book that blew you away!

Greer: Gladly! I just finished RED CLOCKS by Leni Zumas. It's beautifully written, with gorgeously unspooling sentences, but it doesn't fall into the trap of some literary fiction, of putting the words ahead of the plot. It combines those beautiful sentences with a powerful, spellbinding urgency. There are four main characters, four perspectives -- The Mender, The Wife, The Daughter and The Biographer -- set in a present-day America where abortion has been outlawed, and the way these four stories intertwine is just so... I have to repeat that same word, powerful. Favorite book of 2018 so far.

Read more at https://www.kellyoconnormcnees.com/ 

(And of course, return here for another #womenshistoryreads Q&Q&Q&A tomorrow!)

WomensHistoryReads interview: Hazel Gaynor

So many reasons to be excited about today's #WomensHistoryReads interview. Not only do we have an in-depth, eloquent Q&Q&Q&A with Hazel Gaynor, but a fabulous first: a cover sneak peek! Hazel has graciously agreed to share with us a preview of the new cover of her next novel, THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S DAUGHTER. And it is a beauty.

Read on for Hazel's real-life inspirations, life as a history nerd, and an introduction to the amazing story of Grace Darling.

Hazel Gaynor

Greer: Tell us about a woman (or group of women) from the past who has inspired your writing. 

Hazel: My second novel, A MEMORY OF VIOLETS, was inspired by an incredible group of young girls and women who were taken from a life of poverty among London's flower markets and placed in charitable homes at The Watercress and Flower Girls Mission under the supervision of Victorian philanthropist, John Groom. Many of the girls were orphaned, blind or physically disabled in some way, which made life on the streets almost impossible, and incredibly dangerous. With patience and care they were taught to make artificial paper and silk flowers, working in a little factory established in a local chapel. With John Groom’s guidance, and the help of the women who acted as mothers to the girls in the homes, the flower girls were able to lead a dignified, safe and relatively independent life.

I first read about Groom’s Flower Girls after starting to research the lives of Victorian flower sellers, my interest in these women having come from Eliza Doolittle, George Bernard Shaw’s fictional flower seller in Pygmalion. The trail of breadcrumbs led me to a fascinating history of the girls’ work and lives, held in the London Metropolitan Archives in the City of London. Discovering this forgotten piece of London's history formed the basis for my story of Florrie and Rosie -- orphaned sisters who become separated on London's unforgiving streets -- and the young woman who works in Groom's flower homes and sets out to discover what became of them.

The artificial flowers produced by the Flower Girls were mostly sold to the wealthy to decorate their homes, but their work was noticed by the Dowager Queen, Alexandra of Denmark (widow of King Edward VII). In 1912, Queen Alexandra commissioned the Flower Girls to make thousands of pink paper roses to be sold to the public as a fundraiser for London’s hospitals. This was the first occasion of an annual charitable fund raiser in London which became known as Alexandra Rose Day and is still recognised today. I feel very privileged to have told the flower girls’ remarkable story.

Greer: Do you consider yourself a historian?

Hazel: Great question! I think of myself more as a historical dramatist than a historian in the academic sense of the word. I’ve always been fascinated by history and studied British and European history to A’Level before heading off to study Business at University (my thinking being that a very practical degree would lead to me getting an actual job at the end of it)! As a historical novelist I truly believe it is my passion for the past that drives me to research and write my stories. The history nerd within is never happier than when I’m immersed in odd little research books or rummaging through a dusty old archive box in a quiet library reading room, discovering letters and personal effects that have been hidden away for over a century. It is this archaeology of very personal and social histories, and the thrill of bringing these forgotten voices roaring back to life, that gets me to my writing desk every day, even on the really tough days!

As anyone who writes historical fiction will know, we often get asked about the balance of fact versus fiction and are kept awake at night by nagging doubts about historical accuracy. Most historical novelists I know are not historians, but we approach our subject matter very seriously and with absolute historical rigour. Our research is painstaking, obsessing over the smallest little details because authenticity is so important to us. Plus, we love discovering those little gems of historical delight that add colour to our stories.

I personally love reading author’s notes to understand which parts of the story were fact and which came from their imagination. I love discovering a true story, a person from history I wasn’t aware of, or a real event I didn’t know anything about. This is a wonderful time to be writing about the past, especially about women from the past, and historical novels are really having a moment. Here’s to the historical novelists digging around in archive boxes and exploring interesting footnotes of historical texts so they can share all these fabulous stories. More! More!

Greer: Hear hear! What’s your next book about and when will we see it? 

Hazel: My forthcoming novel THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S DAUGHTER was inspired by the remarkable history of female lighthouse keepers and the true story of Grace Darling, an incredible young woman who became a reluctant heroine when she and her father rescued survivors of a shipwreck off the Farne Islands in 1838. The novel spans 100 years, moving between Grace's story at Longstone Lighthouse in England, to that of a troubled young Irish woman and the light keeper she goes to live with in Newport, Rhode Island in 1938, the year of the great hurricane.

I’ve been fascinated by Grace Darling’s story since learning about her at school but like so many women from history, she has fallen out of favour and out of the school text books which is such a shame as she really deserves to be talked about. I was especially intrigued by Grace’s transition from a very private young woman living a simple existence on a remote island lighthouse, to a very public figure, famed for her daring rescue and admired across the country, including by the young Queen Victoria. It was a transition she struggled with, and one that had a dramatic impact on her life.

I have family who live in Northumberland so it was amazing to make a trip out to Grace’s lighthouse home and a wonderful museum dedicated to her life as part of my research. I was also very excited to visit Newport, Rhode Island to research the part of the novel set there. My inspiration for this part of the narrative, again, came from an incredible woman, Ida Lewis, light keeper at Lime Rock light and who was known as America’s Grace Darling.

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter is a novel about strong women, courage and the unique bonds of female relationships. I'm so excited to share this story with readers when the book is published in the USA/Canada on October 9th. You can read more about it and pre-order (in all formats) at this link.

Greer: And I'm so excited to get a peek at the cover! Thank you for sharing it with us! Readers, feast your eyes:

Hazel: You’ve written such fascinating historical novels with strong female protagonists, one a female illusionist and one a female private detective. What is the premise for your next novel, Greer? We need to know!

Greer: Thank you, and I'm delighted to share! My next novel, WOMAN NINETY-NINE, is about a young woman from a wealthy family who risks everything to rescue her troubled sister from a women's asylum... by following her inside. It takes place in Northern California in 1888, and it's partly inspired by one of reporter Nellie Bly's most famous stories, her 10 days undercover in a notorious insane asylum. Bly was quoted as saying, "The insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island is a human rat-trap. It is easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out." So when my narrator Charlotte mimics Bly's techniques, you know she finds more than she bargained for. She discovers that many of her fellow inmates were put away for reasons other than insanity -- and her quest for the truth unearths secrets that those in power would do anything to keep.

Hazel Gaynor is a New York Times bestselling, award-winning historical novelist, who lives in County Kildare, Ireland with her husband and two children. Her 2014 debut historical novel The Girl Who Came Home—A Novel of the Titanic hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, and went on to win the 2015 Historical Novel of the Year award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association in London. Her second novel A Memory of Violets, was also a New York Times bestseller, and her third, The Girl from The Savoy was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail bestseller, and finalist for the 2016 Irish Book Awards. Her releases in 2017 – The Cottingley Secret  and Last Christmas in Paris (co-written with Heather Webb) both hit the Canadian Globe & Mail bestseller list. In autumn 2018, Hazel will release The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter, a novel inspired by the true events surrounding the life of Victorian lighthouse keeper, Grace Darling. All Hazel’s novels have been received to critical acclaim and have been translated into several foreign languages. She is represented by Michelle Brower at Aevitas Creative, New York.

Contact info:

Web: https://www.hazelgaynor.com/

Twitter: @HazelGaynor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hazelgaynorbooks

Instagram: @HazelGaynor

Newsletter sign-up: https://www.hazelgaynor.com/newsletter/

my interview with Alma Katsu of THE HUNGER

A brief break from one kind of interview for another... Alma Katsu's THE HUNGER, historical fiction inspired by the Donner Party with a supernatural twist, is making a big splash. When Stephen King calls your book "Deeply, deeply disturbing... not recommended reading after dark," that's kind of a big deal. (I joked on Twitter it's like Picasso saying "Great cubism.")

I recently interviewed Alma for the Chicago Review of Books, covering everything from reviews (the book's getting great ones) to research (she did a lot) to the role gender played both in her version of the story and the Donner Party's real fate. Click and devour here.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Meghan Masterson

The #WomensHistoryReads interview project continues! And today's guest is THE WARDROBE MISTRESS author Meghan Masterson, who interviewed me for her blog earlier this month. Now it's her turn to be interviewed with a guest spot here today.

Meghan Masterson

Greer:   Tell us about a woman from the past who has inspired your writing.

Meghan: Marie Antoinette inspired me to write THE WARDROBE MISTRESS. There’s something alluring about the contrast of her luxurious life, and the doomed tragedy of her death, but as I got deeper into my research, I saw that she was probably reviled more than she deserved. Most of the social and economic problems leading up to the French Revolution had been building for years, long before her time on the throne, and Marie Antoinette, as a foreign queen (she was born in Austria, and came to France when she married the dauphin) made a convenient scapegoat. She’s blamed for things like naively remarking ‘let them eat cake’ in response to the shortage of bread (she never said this), when she regularly donated to the poor and took measures like downgrading the palace grain ration so there would be more for the rest of the people. 

I knew I wanted to write about her, and my protagonist became one of Marie Antoinette’s wardrobe women, poised to see the truth about the queen, but also the struggle going on in Paris. Having her work in the wardrobe also let me explore the surprisingly intricate world of French Revolutionary fashion, too. 

Greer: What’s the last book that blew you away? 

Meghan: THE NIGHT SISTER by Jennifer McMahon. I loved the blend of suspense, supernatural, and shifting timelines in the multiple points of view. I immediately added the rest of her books to my reading list and have been happily working my way through.  

Greer: Play matchmaker: what unsung woman from history would you most like to read a book about, and who should write it? 

Meghan: Ooh, this is a fun one. I would love to read a book about Wang Zhenyi, a woman scientist and astronomer from 18th Century China. Not only did she research and write about scientific topics like the eclipses and equinoxes, she also wrote poetry – and of course challenged the limitations of women’s roles at the times. Since Weina Dai Randel so wonderfully portrayed Empress Wu as a strong, nuanced, and sympathetic character, I’d choose her to write this story.

Greer: Great match! (And fans of Weina: stay tuned for her interview later in the month.)

Meghan: Have you hidden any secrets or clues in your books that only a few people will find? 

Greer: Not exactly, but I do like to include things only a few people will get the meaning of. A lot of the towns and cities that Arden's magic show visits in THE MAGICIAN'S LIE are named because I know someone who lives there or I have some other connection to the city. And in my upcoming third book, WOMAN NINETY-NINE, several of the characters' names are taken from an Elvis Costello song that was part of my inspiration for writing a novel in that particular setting. They're definitely not clues to the mystery, but fun little Easter eggs, in a way.

Read more by and about Meghan at her website.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Pamela D. Toler

Thrilled to bring Pamela D. Toler to the blog today for a nonfiction-focused #WomensHistoryReads interview! Pamela has written oodles of fascinating works on the women of history, but the best-known is probably the one that viewers of PBS' "Mercy Street" saw advertised at the end of every episode: HEROINES OF MERCY STREET, a companion book to the TV series that delved into some of the facts and real-life historical figures behind the fiction. Welcome, Pamela!

Pamela D. Toler

Greer: Tell us about a woman (or group of women) from the past who has inspired your writing.

Pamela: As a child, I read every biography I could find about smart and/or tough women who ignored  (or kicked their way through) society's boundaries and accomplished things no one thought they could accomplish.  Lucky for me, our school's revolving library owned a whole series of them. Each week a new one arrived and I snatched it before anyone else could get it, eager to read about Clara Barton, Madame Curie, or Julia Ward Howell.  Those books were an inspiration and I remember them with great affection, though I couldn't give you the name of a single title or author.

Greer: Do you consider yourself a historian?

Pamela: Absolutely!  And I have the papers to prove it.

Greer: I think you may be the first PhD I've interviewed for this series! What do you find most challenging or most exciting about researching women?

Pamela: Right now I'm writing a global history of women warriors (due out early in 2019). One of the most challenging and enraging things about the research is the consistent ways in which women are dismissed across time.  When scholars say maybe this particular woman didn't exist, it's easy to accept.  But when you see many examples of scholars writing about different times and places who give similar reasons why women in their own particular field may not have existed, you start to question every example.  And grind your teeth a lot.

Greer: [sound of teeth grinding] 

Pamela: And here's one for you:  Is there a period of history that grabs your imagination more than others?  And why?

Greer: My imagination is a fickle thing that jumps at anything sparkly, so not necessarily. But there has to be more than that initial "Ooh!" spark to make me really focus in on a story and commit to researching, crafting, revising, publishing and promoting a full-length novel. For that reason, so far I've been writing in a fairly narrow band of history: the United States between 1850 and 1905. I meant to avoid writing about war, as I feel that's really well-covered territory in historical fiction, except that I already failed at that with my second book, GIRL IN DISGUISE. The problem was that the real-life Kate Warne, first female detective, also worked as a spy for the Union during the Civil War. When history hands you facts like that, you can't just skip that part. I mean, one can, in theory, but I didn't.

More about Pamela and her books at the links below:

http://www.historyinthemargins.com/
https://twitter.com/pdtoler
http://www.pameladtoler.com

WomensHistoryReads interview: Jillian Cantor

When I started this project, I thought I'd interview one writer a day for the month of March to celebrate Women's History Month. But as I've reached out to and heard back from fellow authors inspired by the women of history, it turns out that there are far too many great stories out there to limit the fun to only 31 days! I won't say how long the series will go on, but I can say not to expect complete radio silence starting on April 1. (Also, if I haven't interviewed one of your favorites yet, you can always drop me a line with a suggestion.)

Today's #womenshistoryreads interviewee, Jillian Cantor, has written novels inspired by a wide variety of real-life women of the past, from inspiring (Anne Frank's sister Margot) to notorious (Ethel Rosenberg). Read on to see who inspired her latest novel, THE LOST LETTER, now out in hardcover and e-book and coming soon in paperback.

Greer: What do you find most challenging or most exciting about researching historical women? 

Jillian: Most exciting to me is learning about women who are like me – mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, friends – but whose lives were shaped by different times, places, and circumstances than my own. I’m always fascinated by understanding the ways people lived and how everyday life might have been so different in another time period, but also how relationships and emotions and feelings are so similar in every time and place. 

Greer: Tell us about a woman (or group of women) from the past who has inspired your writing. 

Jillian: My grandmother! My relationship with her inspired THE LOST LETTER (and I dedicated the book to her and my grandfather). She passed away a few years ago, but before she did she progressively lost her short-term memory due to Alzheimer’s. I used to talk to her every single Sunday, starting from when I was very little, and going even up until the very end of her life when she lived in a memory care facility. Even at the end, she always knew who I was, but her mind was in a different place, and she would tell me these fascinating stories about things that had just “happened to her that day,” but in reality had taken place 40 or 50 years earlier. It made me think a lot about who she was before she was a grandmother, or a mother, or a wife. What was she like as a woman, when she had this whole other life? This was the inspiration for the relationship my main character has with her father in THE LOST LETTER.

Greer: What a wonderful way to honor her. What’s your next book about and when will we see it? 

Jillian: My next book is another historical novel. It takes place half in Germany in the years before WWII, during Hitler’s rise to power, and half in post-war Europe in the 10 years following the war. It’s a love story, but it’s also about survival, passion, music, and memory. It’ll be out in about a year from now.

Greer: Can't wait!

Jillian: My question for you: What’s your favorite woman character you’ve ever written and why?

Greer: Ooh, what a great question! I have to say Adelaide Herrmann from THE MAGICIAN'S LIE. I based quite a lot of the character's personality on the real-life Adelaide -- just as my novel describes, she started her career in magic as her husband Alexander Herrmann's assistant, and after his sudden death, took his place to perform the deadliest illusion in magic -- the Bullet Catch -- on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in January of 1897. So she took over his show and became a headliner, a businesswoman, a real boss, at a time when that was unprecedented. They say that to write fiction you have to get inside the heads of your characters, and her head was a place I really enjoyed spending time. I keep thinking I may not be done with her yet.

Find out more about Jillian and her books at jilliancantor.com. 

WomensHistoryReads interview: Alyssa Palombo

Historical novelist Alyssa Palombo has two wonderful novels out in the world, and I'm thrilled to say that her next one, coming this fall, is even better. As I mentioned in a previous interview, I love being asked to blurb (I can't always say yes, but I try) and I especially love it when the book I'm reading for blurb consideration is so good I forget I have any purpose in reading and just enjoy. That's what happened with Alyssa's THE SPELLBOOK OF KATRINA VAN TASSEL, so romantic and eerie and compelling, which you are going to love when it comes out this fall.

Greer: What’s the last book that blew you away?

Alyssa: I just finished AN UNKINDNESS OF MAGICIANS by Kat Howard, and I am completely obsessed with it. It's a brilliantly crafted fantasy novel about a secret world of wealthy, powerful magicians going about their business in secret in modern-day New York City, and a magical competition to determine who has control over this Unseen World. The writing and worldbuilding are both lovely, but what I loved most is the strong feminist narrative in the novel. Women band together to help one another, to remake the world for the better, and to punish the men who prey on them. It's an extraordinary book and an engaging story -- I couldn't put it down!

Greer: If you could pick one woman from history to put in every high school history textbook, who would it be?

Alyssa: Madame C.J. Walker. I remember learning about all the white male business tycoons while I was in school -- Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, etc. -- but why aren't we taught about the country's first black woman millionaire, indeed, one of the first American woman millionaires of any race? Her story, about how she rose from a very difficult early life to become an extremely successful entrepreneur, is truly what that American dream is all about. I didn't learn about her until I was an adult, but I think hers is a name every American should know. (Also, would LOVE to read a biographical historical novel about her!)

Greer: Excellent choice! (And ditto! I haven't read it yet, but Tananarive Due wrote one.) So, I kind of know the answer to this, but readers will want to know too: what’s your next book about and when will we see it?

Alyssa: My next novel is called The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel and will be out on October 2nd, 2018 from St. Martin's Griffin. It's a retelling of Washington Irving's classic short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" from Katrina's point of view. I love that story, of course, but the sexist way that Katrina is described always got under my skin. I decided to give her a voice and let her tell her own story, and boy, did she have a story to tell!

Greer: Did she ever! I believe my blurb says something about "will haunt you in all the best ways."

Alyssa: My question for you: Who is a woman from history whom you feel has been unfairly vilified?

Greer: I love this question and the one who springs immediately to mind is Alexander Pushkin's wife Natalia Goncharova, although I didn't know much about her until I read Jennifer Laam's THE LOST SEASON OF LOVE AND SNOW, which tells the flip side of her story. Apparently she's been widely vilified throughout history for causing the duel that killed her husband, but Jennifer's book beautifully lays out the impossible situation Natalia was in -- the expectations of women at the time, the catch-22 that came from being cursed either for accepting or rejecting the advances of men of high rank who weren't one's husband. 

My broader answer is that so many women in history have been blamed, cursed, dismissed, or vilified for their actions that I feel we owe it to them to explore their stories. I mean, all the way back to Eve, it's been the woman's fault when something bad happens. From Eve to Anne Boleyn to Mata Hari to Yoko Ono. I gladly delve into any book, fiction or nonfiction, that tells a woman's story in all its complexity.

For more on Alyssa and her books, visit alyssapalombo.com. 

WomensHistoryReads interview: Sophie Perinot

You're in for a treat with today's #womenshistoryreads interview -- it's a deep dive with novelist Sophie Perinot, who has a fascinating way of connecting the past with the present and the issues that still concern us today, up to and including #metoo. Welcome, Sophie!

Sophie Perinot

Greer: How would you describe what you write? 

Sophie: I am so glad you asked ;) I write stories set against the past, but exploring issues and feelings so essentially human that they transcend any particular era.

Why do I pick the past as my setting? Two reasons: first and foremost I am an incurable history geek. I was actually the first member of my college graduating class to declare a history major, and I come from a family absolutely full of people who consider visiting historical locations to be the making of every dream vacation (I only go to the beach every other year because my husband is a beach vacation guy).

Beyond my personal addiction to history, I believe that books set in the past can allow readers to confront very difficult issues by providing “safe distance.” The most important issues, emotional and moral, that people struggle with in their very 21st century lives are not new and, though this might surprise people, they are not, at their core, different than the issues people struggled with 500 or even 800 years ago. These emotionally freighted issues are also often the hardest to approach in “real-time.” But “the past is another country” (sorry—don’t have a handy citation for that quote). I think setting complex “big issue” situations in the past can allow people to more comfortably approach them.

For example, even with 2017 wrapping up as a year of #metoo, there continues to be a strong thread of “victim blaming” when women are sexually harassed or assaulted. Quite often young women in particular blame themselves for what has happened to them to a point where they do not report incidents. In my novel, Médicis Daughter, my main character falls into that trap, and across more than 400 years the injustice of her experience is a heartbreaking slap in the face. I expect that portion of the novel to generate recognition and deep thought in readers, perhaps causing them to confront patterns in their own lives and in our modern society.

Greer: Do you consider yourself a historian?

Sophie: No. Let me start by saying that I have a background in history, having graduated with a BA in that subject. And I have a sister who is a tenured professor of history. She is the historian in this family, and has published a number of historical non-fiction books. I write historical fiction which is absolutely NOT the same thing. Let me explain . . .

My work is not driven by the overt goal of educating readers on a particular period, or presenting an overview of a historical issue. Instead, my writing is driven by considerations of plot and theme—by the desire to tell a universal story that is set in the past but transcends it. For example in my novel, The Sister Queens, the driving theme was the relationship between my sisters, Marguerite Queen of France and Eleanor Queen of England. There was a lot of important 13th century history that did not get discussed in my book—for example the English Baron’s rebellion in England—that would have been included if I had a different focus or a different set of main characters.

Historical novelists have some freedoms that historians don’t. We get to move things. For example, in my 16th century novel, Médicis Daughter, I relocated the signing of Marguerite de Valois’ marriage contract to Catherine de Médicis private study at the Chateau of Blois because I wanted the imagery of the paneling—very distinctive gold paneling covering secret cubbies—in that room. And, unlike historians, historical novelists even get to make things up. Academic Historians speculate, of course, because they can’t know everything even about the best-documented events of the past, but they do not make up events or people and insert them into history. In contrast, it is perfectly acceptable for novelists to create fictional happenings and characters. Characters are the most common. For example, in A Day of Fire the group of authors I worked with used historical figures—Admiral Pliny, the aedile Cuspius Pansa—about whom historians do have solid facts. But our cast of characters also included the fictionalized and the entirely fictitious. In creating fictionalized characters, some of our inspiration from the graffiti that peppered Pompeii. The hero of my story, Sabinus, was inspired by historical graffiti. Someone of that name ran for aedile shortly before destruction of the city. From his name and that fact I built a character.

So, to come full circle, my work isn’t driven by history, or entirely limited by it.  BUT if I write first rate historical fiction—and I’d like to think I do—then in telling my story I want to be true to historical facts as we know them.  How do I achieve that? 

I don’t wing it. In writing my historical fiction I use the same sorts of resources that a historian might use—scholarly journal articles, primary sources (for example in Médicis Daughter I used the memoirs of Marguerite de Valois as well as other primary sources like a political pamphlet published contemporaneously with events in the story), and secondary sources (biographies, prior histories).

And when I make a change from history or when I am faced with a choice of competing facts/dates I use my author’s note to let readers know that I have made a deviation, inference or choice.

Greer: A good author's note is essential! I agree. Last question: unlike many historical novelists who stick with a time period or region, you seem to wander -- you’ve been everywhere from ancient Rome to 16th century France. Do you plan to keep roaming?

Sophie: I am absolutely going to hop around like a bunny. I feel privileged as a writer—I feel that we are given extra lives. We get to live in different skins, travel to different places, and bring those experiences alive for readers. I don’t want to limit those travels either geographically or temporally. I am limited in my so-called real-life, in a way that my author alter-ego doesn’t have to be.

I completely understand those historical writers who want to go deep into a single era and become experts in a cast of characters. But I am generally drawn to a story by an “ah ha” moment—by an event that inspires, or by the discovery of someone I feel history has maligned or neglected—and those events are too serendipitous to stick to one setting or era. 

For example, I discovered the sisters at the center of my novel, The Sister Queens, in a footnote while research Notre Dame for another purpose. The idea that these two women had become Queens of two of the most powerful kingdoms in their era and yet had since been largely forgotten in the telling of history rankled me. Theirs was a story of influence, adventure and sisterhood that I just had to tell. 

More recently, a marvelous baroque song—a daring tarantella about death—got me wondering who might have written it and why, and the quest to find that person or invent him took me to the 17th century Papal Court of the Barberini, and led to a manuscript I just turned over to my agent. Similarly, something that always puzzled me about the Great Fire of London inspired me to begin writing my first dual timeline novel—yes I am actually working on something partially set in 21st century London. In another twist, this WIP has a thriller aspect, with not one but two investigations going on more than 350 years apart.

Sophie: My question for you: Which of your two main characters—Pinkerton detective Kate Warne, or illusionist the Amazing Arden is the most (or least) like you and in what way(s)?

Greer: Great question! I'm afraid that in my everyday existence -- as you put it so aptly in your own answer, my "so-called real life" -- I'm far more boring than either. They're both bold and fierce, ready to take on anyone who thinks they can't succeed. But I'm probably more like Arden, in that I grew up in a small town with a certain set of expectations and limits that I eventually outgrew, taking on bigger challenges in the wider world. I redefined myself and who I was, who I am. Arden has trauma that drives her from home, whereas for me it was insatiable curiosity, but there are some similarities in our journeys.

Sophie Perinot is an award-winning author of female-centered historical fiction. Her novel, The Sister Queens delves into the compelling bond between sisters Marguerite and Eleanor of Provence, 13th century queens of France and England. While her novel Médicis Daughter takes readers to the intrigue-riven French court, to consider issues of conscience and independence within the complicated mother/daughter relationship between princess Marguerite de Valois and the dangerous, powerful Queen Catherine de Médicis. Sophie was one of six historical novelists in the ground-breaking historical novel-in-six-parts, A Day of Fire: Stories of Pompeii, telling the story of the final days of that doomed city through the eyes of a cast of characters each written by an individual author but moving through multiple writer’s stories.  

To learn more about Sophie and her work, visit her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Today on #womenshistoryreads I'd like to introduce you to Elizabeth Kerri Mahon, who you may already know as the author of SCANDALOUS WOMEN, or as a vibrant, lively presence at the Historical Novel Society Conference (which is where I know her from.) My jaw dropped about five times while reading her informative and eye-opening interview answers -- scandalous indeed! You're in for a delightful read.

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Greer: Tell us about a woman from the past who has inspired your writing.

Elizabeth: Josephine Baker is one of my favorite women in history. Not only was she a singer, dancer, and actress but also a civil rights activist and a spy during World War II for the French resistance.  Not to mention that she was incredibly glamorous, as well as hard-working. There is a reason that she’s a legend. Growing up poor in St. Louis, married twice before she was even out of her teens, made her way to New York to Broadway and then to become the toast of Paris? The stories of her walking her pet cheetah down the Champs-Elysees, and her triumphant return to the stage in the 1970’s.

When I wrote Scandalous Women, I spent way too much time reading biographies and watching the few movies that she made. I just wanted to know more and more. I’m still trying to learn more about her work during World War II. I’ve been trying to find a copy of the memoir written by Jacques Abtey, who worked with her during that time. If I do find a copy, I’m going to have to break out my rusty French! Even "Gossip Girl" was fascinated with Josephine Baker. There’s a whole episode where Tyra Banks plays an actress who plays Josephine Baker in a movie about the French resistance but her part is cut out before the movie premieres in favor of Hilary Duff’s character.  I remember watching that episode and thinking that it was absurd, everyone knows that Josephine Baker is one of the most fascinating women in history.

Greer: Agreed! Next question: Do you consider yourself a historian?  

Elizabeth: I am definitely not a historian; I’m would say that I’m more of a story-teller.  I majored in English and Drama in college, but I have always loved history, ever since I was a child. I’m most definitely a history geek. My favorite books as a child were the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder; I read those over and over. Later I moved onto to Jean Plaidy and Philippa Carr. Even when I was acting, most of the plays that I performed were historical, Shakespeare, Shaw, Chekhov, and Schnitzler. I think I did one contemporary play in 15 years of acting. I started Scandalous Women because I was reading about so many fascinating women in history and I wanted to share their stories with readers. Ten years ago, there weren’t many blogs or books out. Now, of course, there is an explosion of interest in women’s lives and history. To this day, my friends and I talk about women in history such as Anne Boleyn, The Brontë sisters, and Mary Wollstonecraft as if we actually knew them. They are so real to us.

Greer: What do you find most challenging or most exciting about researching historical women?

Elizabeth: One of the biggest challenges is when there is either too much research or too little.  I wrote a book proposal for a non-fiction book about Juliet d’Aubigny, better known as Mademoiselle Maupin.  Fascinating woman, she was a 17th century cross-dressing, bisexual swordswoman and opera singer. But there is so much that we don’t know about her, in particular how many of the stories about her are true.

There was one story that was particularly outrageous. Apparently she entered a convent as a postulant in order to pursue a young woman that she had fallen in love with. One night after an elderly nun died, Juliet stole the body, placed it in the girl’s cell and set fire to the convent, and escaped with her lover. They were on the run for three months and Juliet was sentenced to death in absentia by the parliament in Provence as a man, because the judges refused to believe that a woman could abduct another,  let alone from a convent. She apparently fought duels with men and won. There are so many stories or myths about her but they were all hard to corroborate. I found it really difficult to write the proposal. In hindsight, I should have pitched the book as more of an investigative piece: does this woman really exist? 

For Scandalous Women, I had the opposite problem, too much research. I must have read more than seventy books, and I could have read another seventy. The research was just so fascinating, but at a certain point I had to stop and write the book! Otherwise, it would never have been finished.

Greer: Play matchmaker: what unsung woman from history would you most like to read a book about, and who should write it?

Elizabeth: One of the most interesting women that I wrote about in Scandalous Women was Jane Digby.  She was an English aristocrat born just before the Regency period in England and died during the late Victorian era. She had four husbands (she divorced three of them) and many lovers, including King Ludwig I of Bavaria (she’s featured in his Hall of Beauties) as well as his son King Otto of Greece. Her last husband was an Arab Sheikh who was twenty years her junior! Finally, she’d found the happiness that she was looking for. They were married for almost thirty years before she died. Men just couldn’t help falling in love with her, and if you look at her portraits, you can see why. She is the classic English beauty, blonde hair, big blue eyes, and porcelain skin. I’m amazed that no one has written either a book or done a miniseries about her life. As to who should write it, I would have to say Leslie Carroll would be the perfect author. She’s already written about Eliza Hamilton and Mary Robinson, Jane Digby would be right up her alley.

Elizabeth: And my question for you: Have you watched the TV series about The Pinkertons? If so what did you think of the portrayal of Kate Warne?

Greer: I didn't have the right channel to watch it when it was on TV, but the timing turned out to be fortuitous -- it came to Netflix shortly after I'd turned in GIRL IN DISGUISE. Of course I was curious about overlap between their Kate and my Kate, but as it turns out, there isn't any, time-wise or plot-wise. Their story begins in 1865, just after mine ends. Of course both my book and the TV series had the same scant facts from history to draw on, so we made some of the same decisions about the personality Kate must have had: bold, fiery, and constantly battling the pervasive sexism of the day. I never saw any sources that would indicate she was solving cases in Kansas City with William Pinkerton in 1865, as she does in the show, but I'm happy for anything that gets Kate's name out there, frankly!

Want more about Elizabeth and her knowledge of scandalous women? Here you go:

http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/scandalwomen

WomensHistoryReads interview: Michelle Gable

If you haven't read Michelle Gable's bestselling novels, now is a great time to start! As she describes in today's #womenshistoryreads interview, her work is inspired by history, using facts as a jumping-off point to spin compelling narratives that will keep your attention until the last page and beyond. (And if you've spent any time in a bookstore in the past few years, you'll probably recognize the iconic blue script that sets her books apart -- it's beautiful.)

And the woman who inspired her next book sounds particularly fascinating. Read on for more...

Michelle Gable (photo credit: Joanna DeGeneres)

Greer: How would you describe what you write?

Michelle: This is a great question, and one I’m asked all the time. It usually happens in some random setting, like on the tennis court. My partner will announce, “hey, she’s a writer!” Then the inevitable: “what do you write?” “Novels” is not a satisfying answer, I’ve learned.

Generally, I describe my books as a combination of historical and contemporary fiction, or historical fiction with a contemporary thread. All of my books are based on real people or events, so I hope my writing results in a lot of googling.

Greer: What’s your next book about and when will we see it?

Michelle: My next novel is called The Summer I Met Jack and it comes out on May 29th. Yes, it is that Jack…Jack Kennedy. The main character was a woman he was engaged to briefly in 1951. Alicia Corning Clark—one of her many names—was a Jewish Polish refugee and Papa Kennedy forbid the marriage. She was a firecracker and led a fascinating life in her own right, as an artist, a B-movie actress, and paramour to a number of leading men and even a leading lady or two (hello, Katharine Hepburn!)  

Greer: Sounds fantastic! Can't wait. Last question: what book, movie or TV show would your readers probably be surprised to find out you love?

Michelle: Well, I’m going to go with a podcast because I’m obsessed with them. Most people are shocked when I tell them how much I love the True Crime/Comedy podcast My Favorite Murder. 

Greer: I'll have to check it out!

Michelle: And your question: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to uncover or confirm a historical detail? This can either be straight up insane or crazy as in the time/energy/stress/money far outweighed whatever information you gleaned. 

Greer: It took me a while to think of an answer for this question, so I think maybe I haven't been crazy enough! But I did seek out a private magic library in Manhattan while I was researching THE MAGICIAN'S LIE -- I'd heard rumors about it, and seen a few mentions here and there on the internet, so I went waaaaaay down a rabbit hole hunting for more information. Finally I figured out where it was located, and even better, an e-mail address for it. I wrote a very nice letter begging for access to their materials, and I had all these visions of paging through dusty old playbills and artifacts. I was so excited when they wrote back! And then they told me that pretty much the whole collection was digitized and I could have access to it through the website if I just paid a monthly fee. Somehow, that sucked the glamour right out of the whole business. (I ended up not really using anything I found there, either.)

THE SUMMER I MET JACK comes out May 29. Is Michelle's book tour bringing her to your neck of the woods? Find out that and more with these links:

www.michellegable.com

facebook.com/michellegable

@MGableWriter on Twitter and Instagram

For a change of pace, tomorrow's #WomensHistoryReads interview will take us into the world of nonfiction. Tune in, won't you?