WomensHistoryReads interview: Meg Waite Clayton

Today I'm thrilled to welcome to the blog Meg Waite Clayton, who wows critics and readers alike with her insightful, entrancing books. Not only a New York Times bestselling author, she was also honored by the Langham Prize committee for THE RACE FOR PARIS (which I adored.) Read more about Meg below!

Meg Waite Clayton

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

Meg: As a group, the enormously talented and courageous women war journalists and photojournalists, including Lee Carson, Helen Kirkpatrick, Iris Carpenter, Ruth Cowan, Lee Miller, Dot Avery, Virginia Irwin, Margaret Bourke-White, and Martha Gellhorn, have inspired me. My first novel, The Language of Light, about a woman who aspires to be a photojournalist, has roots in Margaret Bourke-White's autobiography. And all my work has in some sense flown from that first novel.

My latest, The Race for Paris, draws directly from the experiences of all these World War II correspondents, who defied military regulations and gender barriers to cover the “race for Paris,” vying to be among the first to report from the liberated city in the summer of 1944. They did so by stowing away in bathrooms of Channel-crossing boats, going AWOL, hopping fences meant to contain them, struggling to get their photographs and stories out, and risking their lives. Despite being confronted with red tape and derision, denied access to jeeps and to the information and accommodations provided to their male colleagues at press camps, pursued by military police intent on returning them to the States, and even arrested and stripped of credentials, they proved that women could report from the front lines, and opened the way for generations of women to do things previously forbidden us.

Greer: And the way that you weave those truths with fiction makes for a fantastic story. How would you describe what you write?

Meg: My novels take place in different time periods, but they share a common thread in that they are--or at least are meant to be--inspirational stories about women finding the strength to overcome societal barriers unique to women. But I hope they are first and foremost not "message" but story. I like a great read that leaves me both laughing and crying, and that's what I try to write.

Greer: Yes. I've definitely done both while reading your novels! What do you find most challenging or most exciting about researching historical women?

Meg: Both challenging and exciting is the fact that there are so many amazing women in history who are not yet known, or known well enough. Exciting because that is so much story possibility. Challenging because there are only so many hours in a lifetime, and I want to write them all! 

Greer: Ditto!

Meg: And for you: I'd love to know about a woman (or group of women) from the past who've inspired you. That is such a great question!

Greer: With a near-infinite number of answers, right? I'm always running across new names, but only one has inspired me enough to center an entire novel around -- Kate Warne, 19th-century detective and total bad-ass. If I were a biographer, it would have been intensely frustrating to discover that the information about her in the historical record is basically skeletal. But since I'm a historical novelist, I felt like the gaps in her story were the perfect invitation. I've said since the beginning that part of the reason I wrote the book was so more people would know her name, but only lately have I been able to articulate why her lack of name recognition bothers me so much: why do we all know the name of the man who assassinated Lincoln in 1865, but not the woman who saved his life by foiling an earlier assassination attempt in 1861? How different our country's history could have been. Get this woman into the history books!

Read more about Meg, her books, and her advice for writers at the links below:

www.megwaiteclayton.com
www.facebook.com/novelistmeg
Twitter: @megwclayton

And as always, tune in for another #womenshistoryreads review tomorrow!

WomensHistoryReads interview: Renee Rosen

Today's #WomensHistoryReads guest is Renee Rosen. She's an author of many talents, particularly skilled at bringing Chicago history to life in books like DOLLFACE (1920s), WHAT THE LADY WANTS (1890s), WHITE COLLAR GIRL (1950s), and WINDY CITY BLUES (1960s). Her next project is a departure from that pattern -- which she talks about in her interview below. Welcome, Renee!

Renee Rosen (credit: Charles Osgood Photography)

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

Renee: I know some authors hand off the research aspect of their work to an intern or assistant but I can’t imagine not doing the research myself.  That's something I truly love about my job. The most exciting part is the element of discovery. You just never know what you’ll stumble upon and some seemingly insignificant detail could end up greatly impacting your story. 

I love discovering courageous women, especially the lesser known women, and find myself deeply humbled after learning about their struggles and the difficulties they overcame. Though we still have many of our own obstacles today, it’s easy to take for granted the sacrifices they made in order for us to lead the lives we do. I get absolutely lost in another time and place. Getting the details right, down to the clothing and social mores right is especially challenging. 

My last few books have been set in the '40s, '50s and '60s and many readers were alive and well during those time periods and they know it well. If you don’t get your details right, you’ll lose them right there on the page. I think that’s why I especially love hearing from readers who say I took them back in time and reminded them of their childhoods. 

Greer: How would you describe what you write?

Renee: I would say that first and foremost, I write historical fiction, usually (but not always) centered around strong female characters—both real and fictional. I tend to do a blended type of writing where I weave my fictional characters into stories based on real events and real people. It’s always gratifying when readers tell me they googled my fictional characters because they thought they were real. Making that aspect seamless is a real challenge. It’s really important that they don't feel plugged in. And because I tend to mix fiction with non-fiction, I always include an extensive author’s note at the end of each book, explaining where I took creative license so readers can separate facts from fiction. 

Greer: Always a good plan. What’s your next book about and when will we see it?  

Renee: My upcoming book, PARK AVENUE SUMMER, is a historical novel coming from Penguin Random House /Berkley in May 2019.

I’m super excited about this novel for many reasons. Here’s a brief description:
New York City in 1965 is filled with opportunities for single girls like Alice Weiss who leaves her small Midwestern town and lands the job of a lifetime working for the first female Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, Helen Gurley Brown.

Nothing could have prepared Alice for the world she enters as editors and writers resign on the spot, refusing to work for the woman who wrote the scandalous bestseller Sex and the Single Girl, and confidential memos, article ideas, and cover designs keep finding their way into the wrong hands. When someone asks Alice to help sabotage her boss, she is more determined than ever to help Helen succeed. While pressure mounts at the magazine and Alice struggles to make her way in New York, she’s quickly learning that in Helen Gurley Brown’s world, a woman can demand to have it all.

Greer: What a fascinating premise!

Renee: And now a question for you. Can you describe your writing process? For example, are you an outliner, do you write longhand first, do you conduct all your research up front or do it hand-in-hand with your writing? 

Greer: I could describe my writing process in one word: sloppy. I make a mess, but I do it quickly, and then I spend months and months cleaning it up. I do usually start from a synopsis -- GIRL IN DISGUISE and my next book WOMAN NINETY-NINE were both sold on a synopsis and sample pages. I have a plan, and then as I write it, I change the plan. I write only on the computer because my fingers can't keep up with my brain in longhand, but at a certain point in the process -- usually once I have that first messy-but-complete-ish draft -- I have to print it out and mark it up. Then the multicolor Post-Its come out. There's something tactile about that stage.

Research goes in a few waves, and I try to do the most substantial work before I even start writing. So for example, with GIRL IN DISGUISE I read everything there was to read on Kate Warne. I watched movies and read books about the time period. I read up on Allan Pinkerton and the cases his agents were working at the time I was writing about. Then I began. But for Chicago street names, for example -- that kind of detail work -- I waited until I knew which scenes were actually going to make it into the final draft. Then I found a map from 1856 and went to town, so to speak.

For more on Renee and her books, visit her website at reneerosen.com.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Erika Robuck

Today I'm thrilled to welcome to the blog Erika Robuck, author of rich, enthralling historical fiction (FALLEN BEAUTY is my favorite) and all-around good person to know. As I've mentioned on previous interviews, one of the best things about getting to know other authors is watching their careers and readerships grow over the years, and I've been cheering Erika on, as she's been cheering me on, ever since the early days of HEMINGWAY'S GIRL. Welcome, Erika! 

Erika Robuck

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

Erika: There are so many books that stay with me, but the most recent that will not leave me is THE CHILD FINDER, by Rene Denfeld. It gripped me from the first page and would not give up its hold—even now. The story is about a private investigator hired to find a missing girl. The detective’s own past becomes entangled with the cases she works, and it builds to a terrifying, emotionally-charged climax. What makes THE CHILD FINDER stand above a typical mystery/suspense novel is the gorgeous writing and the deeply layered characters. Even the antagonists are complex, and it takes a writer of enormous empathy and understanding to be able humanize the inhuman and the fictional so completely. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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

Erika: I’d make sure every history textbook had a section on Mother Theresa of Calcutta—a woman who left every material comfort in her life to minister to the unwanted in society—the poor, the sick, and the dying. She faced opposition from without and within her own society and faith, but continued on in service to others, helping those who “lived like animals to die like angels.” What is most inspiring about Mother (now Saint) Theresa was that she experienced a “dark night of the soul” as soon as she entered into her deep vocation to the poor, which did not lift for the rest of her life. She was lonely, opposed, and full of self doubt, but in the name of her devotion to faith in God and in love, never stopped on the path she felt was laid for her. 

Greer: Who are some of your favorite authors working today?  

Erika: I find favorite author/book questions delightful and terrifying. There are so many—how to list them all? I’ll have to name the first who come to mind, whose books I buy without needing description because I know I will love them. A. S. Byatt, Kate Morton, Priya Parmar, Jojo Moyes, Toni Morrison, Tatiana de Rosnay, and Paula McLain. 

Erika: My question for you:  It might have been F. Scott Fitzgerald who said all writers have one story to tell. In spite of different time periods and places, what is the recurring story you find yourself confronting with each book, and why is it so important that you tell it? 

Greer: I think all of my books so far have followed a woman who discovers her inner strength when she's tested by extraordinary circumstances. Some of them start out fierce, like Kate Warne, and some only find their fierceness once they're in the thick of the action, like the protagonist of WOMAN NINETY-NINE, who most readers won't meet until next year. But I think it's an important theme. Most of us are stronger than we know. And these are historical women, faced with the constraints of the times they lived in. If the women of the past could accomplish so much in those times, what could we, women of the present, accomplish today?

WomensHistoryReads interview: Susan Meissner

Today's #WomensHistoryReads interview is a charmer -- just like Susan Meissner herself, author of more than a dozen novels, including SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE and A BRIDGE ACROSS THE OCEAN. Her most recent is AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN, about a Philadelphia family reborn through love and loss during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. Be sure to check out her website for tour events to see if she's coming to a city near you on tour in March or April.

Susan Meissner

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

Susan: I just finished I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon and my first response when I read the last page was, “Wow!” The last imperial Russian tsar, Nicholas Romanov, was executed along with his wife and five children during the Bolshevik revolution in 1918, but mystery surrounded one of the daughters, when in 1920, a woman who later went by the name Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia Romanov. Anderson attempted to kill herself by jumping off a Berlin bridge two years after the executions. She carried no identification papers and refused to give authorities her name. When she finally did speak, she said she was Grand Duchess Anastasia, the only surviving member of the Russian royal family. This same woman spent her lifetime claiming she had survived the brutal execution of the rest of her family. Lawhon has constructed a cleverly engaging look at both Anastasia Romanov of history and the woman who claimed until her dying day to be the sole surviving daughter of the last tsar of Russia. It is a non-linear tale, in that part of the story moves forward and part moves backward, but I loved how the story played out that way. It was a very unique architecture that was probably not easy to pull off, but Lawhon is a master storyteller and she totally made it work.

Greer: I am SO excited for that book! And Ariel will be a guest here the day it publishes, March 27. Next question: If you could pick one woman from history to put in every high school history textbook, who would it be?

During the writing of one of my older books, WHITE PICKET FENCES, I came across the life and times of Irena Sendler, a brave Polish social worker who helped smuggle more than two thousand Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. She was arrested on October 20, 1943, and sent to the notorious Piawiak prison. Here she was tortured when she would not give up the names of the other people in her smuggling network. Despite the cruelty of her questioners, she remained resolute and gave up no names. Irena was sentenced to death, but the German executioner who was to have killed her was bribed so that friends could help her escape. Posters were put up all over the city with the news that she’d been executed. She hid during the remaining years of the war. Irena was the only one who knew where the children who had been smuggled out were located. When the war was over in 1945, she dug up the jars that contained the slips of paper detailing the whereabouts of the 2500 children whose lives she had saved and began the job of trying to find a living relative.  She was so very brave, and few high schoolers know her name.

Greer: That's amazing -- both what she did and that it's not better-known. What’s your next book about and when will we see it?

My next book was just released in February, so it’s just a month old and I’m so glad that it is out in the wild. AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN is a novel set primarily in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which claimed an astonishing 50 million people worldwide. But it’s not just a book about an all-but-forgotten event, it’s also a story about what gives our lives beauty and meaning. It’s because we’re mortal that life is so precious, and the time we are given – however long or short – is always made more wonderful because of who we’ve loved along the way, and who has loved us. The point-of-view characters telling the story are an undertaker’s wife and the couple’s children – three daughters whose ages bring unique perspectives to what is happening all around them as well as around the world. Library Journal gave AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN a starred review and Romantic Times named it a Top Pick in their January issue and said it was “heart-wrenching, well written and unforgettable.” It has been likened to two favorite books I’ve read in my own book club, Barbara Kingsolver’s THE POISONWOOD BIBLE and THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, by M. L. Stedman.

Greer: A wonderful book. (And catnip to fellow THE POISONWOOD BIBLE superfans.)

Susan: My question for you: You have been granted a lovely dinner with three literary greats – dead or alive. Who do you pick and what is on the menu?

Greer: I love it when fellow authors' questions give me superpowers! Let's go with some dead and some alive, to assemble a powerhouse salon of Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, and Agatha Christie. On one hand I think a classic afternoon tea spread with scones and Darjeeling would be most appropriate, but since it's my fantasy, I'm going with my favorite party food: Spanish tapas like marinated Manchego, garlic shrimp and chorizo coins, washed down with gallons of Rioja. Let's see what tipsy Jane would spill -- maybe her wine, maybe some secrets. 

Learn more about Susan and her books here:

http://susanlmeissner.com

Twitter: @SusanMeissner

Facebook: susan.meissner

Instagram: @soozmeissner

Tomorrow's #womenshistoryreads interviewee is Erika Robuck -- be sure to stop by again!

WomensHistoryReads interview: Heather Webb

Not only do I have a fabulous #WomensHistoryReads interview from a talented writer to publish today, I don't even need to write an introduction! Heather Webb's impressive bio speaks for itself:

Heather Webb is the international bestselling author of women’s historical novels Becoming Josephine, Rodin’s Lover, Last Christmas in Paris, and The Phantom’s Apprentice, which have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly and more, as well as received national starred reviews. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was selected as a Goodreads Top Pick, and in 2017, Last Christmas in Paris became a Globe and Mail bestseller. To date, Heather’s novels have sold in multiple countries worldwide. She is also a professional freelance editor, and teaches craft courses at a local college. When not writing, you may find her collecting cookbooks or looking for excuses to travel. She lives in New England with her family and one feisty rabbit.

Heather Webb

Greer: Do you consider yourself a historian? 

Heather: I wouldn't call myself a historian, necessarily, as they spend years of dedicated academic study followed by intensive research in one area and era, typically, and truly become specialists. I would certainly say I'm a history-lover, and have always been one. My dad inspired that love in me with his old Hollywood films, "Little House on the Prairie," and endless westerns, and our dozens of trips to war or history museums all over the country and many in Europe as well. 

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

Heather: I find an awful lot of it exciting--the inexplicable and strange details that seem too weird to be real; the trail-blazing women who fought through so much to achieve their dreams, or even just to survive in a man's world; striking on a person or event in which a woman has done something so spectacular that it seems impossible she has been overlooked in the annals of history; spending time in a courageous woman's head. I adore getting lost in the research and in my characters' hearts and minds. What I find challenging? Publishing is a business, in the end, so the powers that be don't always believe a particular woman's story will resonate with enough readers to make it worth their while to purchase the book and put it on shelves. This is challenging to a writer who enjoys mining for nuanced stories and people. 

Greer: Who are some of your favorite authors working today?

Heather: I learn of new favorite authors every single year as there are always so many glorious new books to read. My current favorites are Paula McLain, John Green, Jessie Burton, Jo Baker, and Jennifer Donnelly. I also adore Sena Jeter Naslund, Tom Robbins, and Elizabeth Gilbert. 

Greer: Lots of great names there!

Heather: My question for you:  How did you discover your love for historical fiction?

Greer: Totally by accident! I'd always been a historical fiction reader, because I read just about everything, but I didn't write historical fiction until I had an out-of-the-blue realization: I'd always seen images of male magicians cutting women in half, but never anything about a female magician cutting a man in half. And I wanted to write a book about a woman who would. But it would have been a very different book with a contemporary setting, and I wanted it to take place in the golden age of magic, so my fictional illusionist could make front-page headlines. So I wrote THE MAGICIAN'S LIE, which is set primarily in 1905. And for several years after that, every idea I had was a historical fiction idea, and right now those are the stories that move me enough to dedicate hours, weeks, years to writing them down.

In this re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera, meet a Christine Daaé you’ve never seen before…

Christine faces an impossible choice: be a star at the Paris opera as Papa always wanted, or follow her dream—to become a master of illusions. First, she must steal the secrets of the enigmatic master who haunts her, survive a world of treachery and murder, and embrace the uncertain promise of love. To succeed, she will risk her life in the grandest illusion of all. 

Here's where you can find out more about Heather and her books:

Website:  www.HeatherWebb.net

Twitter:  @msheatherwebb

FB: https://www.facebook.com/msheatherwebb/ (Heather Webb, Author)

Instagram: @msheatherwebb

(And as always, stay tuned for another #WomensHistoryReads interview tomorrow! We've got a lot more March to go...)

WomensHistoryReads interview: Kate Quinn

Two very exciting things today! One, GIRL IN DISGUISE is now out in paperback -- now you can get it in hardcover, paperback, e-book or audio. Yay! Two, I'm thrilled to welcome to the blog Kate Quinn, NYT bestselling author of THE ALICE NETWORK, one of my favorite reads of the past year. If you haven't read this book yet, you must, and Reese Witherspoon agrees with me. What more recommendation do you need?

Welcome, Kate!

Kate Quinn

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

Kate: AFFINITY by Sarah Waters--a well-to-do Victorian girl pays mission of mercy calls to a women's prison, and finds herself drawn by an enigmatic young spirit medium. A budding love affair between two complicated women, a sharply-drawn portrait of the Victorian justice system, and a creepy Gothic mystery all tied into one! 

Greer: Ooh, that sounds fantastic. And you know how much I loved THE ALICE NETWORK, so I'm really looking forward to what comes next from you. What’s your next book about and when will we see it?

Kate: My next book is untitled so far, tentatively scheduled for February 2019. A team of Nazi hunters in post-war Vienna is tracking down a Nazi murderess gone to ground in America, even as a budding teenage photographer in 1946 Boston begins to have serious doubts about her father's demure German fiancee. And intertwined with those two storylines is Nina, a Russian female bomber pilot who flew against Hitler's eastern front in the all-female regiment known as the Night Witches...

Greer: Can't wait. For your last question, play matchmaker: what unsung woman from history would you most like to read a book about, and who should write it?

Kate: I'd love to read a book about Leonora d'Este: the second wife of Renaissance lord and composer Gesualdo, a musical genius who famously murdered his first wife...and was maybe murdered in turn by Leonora! What kind of woman was she, to have lived with such a dangerous man and come out alive? That's nerves of steel for you. And I'd have Elizabeth Loupas write it; I adore her work. Though in her novel "The Second Duchess" she tackles the similar domestic situation of Duke Alfonso and the first wife he possibly murdered, so E.L. probably wouldn't want to do such a similar re-tread!

Greer: I'd read it for sure. So intriguing.

Kate: And as for a question for you, if you could pick one woman from history to put in every high school history textbook, who would it be?

Greer: Most readers of GIRL IN DISGUISE can probably guess the answer I'll give -- definitely Kate Warne, first female Pinkerton detective. She broke new ground by walking into Allan Pinkerton's office in 1856 and applying for a job as a detective at a time when women rarely worked outside the home at all -- the ad hadn't specified that only men could apply because it was so unthinkable. Then she was so good at it, they hired more women and put her in charge of the Bureau of Female Detectives. Plus, the role she played in foiling an 1861 assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln should be better known. What does it say that we all know the name of the man who killed President Lincoln but not the woman who saved him from being killed before he even got to his inauguration? I wrote GIRL IN DISGUISE to try to get her name out there in one small way; I'd love to see it everywhere.

Find out more about Kate and her books at www.katequinnauthor.com.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Sarah McCoy

Today I'm delighted to add to the #WomensHistoryReads series with this interview with Sarah McCoy: New York Times bestselling author, deft weaver of past and present plotlines, walking ray of sunshine. I've been fortunate enough to cross paths with Sarah many times over the years, online and off, and I'm particularly excited about her next project -- about which more below. Without further ado:

Sarah McCoy

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

Sarah: Sarah Brown, the unmarried daughter of abolitionist John Brown. She was a highly-educated woman, an artist, a teacher, honorary mother to an orphanage of children, and a quiet powerhouse in the abolitionist movement’s Underground Railroad. Yet, history records virtually nothing about her. Her enigmatic existence inspired me to write The Mapmaker’s Children. I felt compelled to flush out her story and tell it forward to future generations of women.

Greer: What book, movie or TV show would your readers probably be surprised to find out you love?

Sarah: "Star Trek." Yes, that’s right, I’m a closet Trekkie and science-fiction fan. I grew up watching the old 1966 series with my dad. The adventures of Captain Kirk, Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, and Dr. “Bones” McCoy were my TV bread and butter. It was also one of the few shows I remember seeing with women taking charge of the helm and carrying phasers while embracing their femininity. I thought it brilliant. To this day, my heart races when I hear the opening theme song. It promises an exciting story where “no man has gone before.” That message has been instilled in me. All grown up, I'm still looking for stories that delve into distinctly female topics where no man has gone before.

Greer: Right there with you! What’s your next book about and when will we see it?

Sarah: My next book is titled Marilla of Green Gables. It’s the story of Marilla Cuthbert, the beloved, adoptive mother of Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables series. There’s a resurgence of Anne captivation these days, and I love to see it. I, too, am an earnest Anne fan. It was the first book I remember my mom reading to me. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Green Gables formed my earliest imaginings, and I never quite left the farm. The 1985 television series blew my mind. I was eternally devoted to Megan Follows’ Anne and Colleen Dewhurst’s Marilla. Even begging for a puffed-sleeve dress at Christmas and having a Green Gables birthday tea party.

As a younger reader, I felt every bit a kindred to Anne. Now older, I’ve grown into a particular fondness for Marilla. I see myself in her and have always been fascinated by her mysterious past. How did she end up a spinster at Green Gables? What happened between her and John Blythe? I thought it high time we got answers. So I set myself to the challenge: rereading the first handful of Anne books in the series that include Marilla; learning the history of the Canadian Maritimes prior to Anne’s arrival; researching Lucy Maud Montgomery’s childhood, family, and life; traveling to Prince Edward Island to walk in her world, in Anne and Marilla’s world, too.

The novel releases from William Morrow/HarperCollins on October 23, 2018, and I can honestly say that out of all the books I’ve written, this is my favorite. It was more than just writing. It was a calling and a responsibility to do right by Lucy Maud Montgomery’s legacy and Marilla’s story at long last.

Thanks for having me on this fun series in honor of Women’s History Month, my dear Greer!

Greer: Aw. Thanks for participating!

Sarah: And my question for you -- Girl in Disguise was such an intriguing look at a nearly forgotten historical figure, Kate Warne. What historical figure do we think we know publicly, but you believe has an enigmatic story yet untold? 

Greer: I've been doing some reading lately on Marie Curie, and I feel like there's a general perception of her as brilliant but kind of one-dimensional -- devoted only to science, working herself literally to death in pursuit of scientific discovery, part of the dry, historic past. And her scientific achievements were incredible. But she was also a living, breathing woman, and a few years after she lost the love of her life in a freak accident, she became embroiled in a sex scandal so outrageous she once returned from a conference to find a torch-wielding mob waiting outside her house. I want to dig into that story.

Tune in tomorrow for the next in the #WomensHistoryReads series of interviews!

--

SARAH McCOY is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of Marilla of Green Gables (forthcoming from William Morrow); The Mapmaker’s Children; The Baker’s Daughter, a 2012 Goodreads Choice Award Best Historical Fiction nominee; the novella “The Branch of Hazel” in Grand Central; and The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico.

Her work has been featured in Real Simple, The Millions, Your Health Monthly, Huffington Post, Read It Forward, Writer Unboxed, and other publications. She has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. She lives with her husband, an orthopedic sports surgeon, and their dog, Gilly, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Connect with Sarah on Twitter and Instagram at @SarahMMcCoy, on her Facebook Fan Page, Goodreads, or via her website, www.sarahmccoy.com.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Allison Pataki

Today I'm thrilled to share this interview with Allison Pataki, author of The Traitor's Wife, The Accidental Empress, and other favorites. Publishing in the age of digital and social media clearly provides more possibilities for connection between authors and readers than have ever happened before. This goes double, luckily, for connections between authors. I'm so lucky to get to interact with authors over the years even when we haven't had the chance to meet in person, and applaud them as their careers grow with every new book. Allison's books visit a variety of different places and periods but always introduce us to compelling characters, intriguing places, and high-stakes plots against the backdrop of history.

Allison Pataki

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

Allison: There are so many—history is filled with the best raw material! But I have to go with Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, known affectionately to her people (and history) simply as “Sisi.” I was so beguiled and charmed by this female historical figure that I devoted not one, but two novels to her.

Sisi, the captivating wife of Emperor Franz-Joseph, was Europe’s last great Empress, as it was her family that declared war and began World War I. But before all of that, Sisi was plucked from obscurity at the age of 15 and thrust onto the throne in the golden era of the Habsburg Court.  She was known as the “most beautiful woman in the world,” but it was her wit and intelligence and charisma that made her a legend in her own time. She is often compared to Princess Diana, as she captured the hearts and imagination of the public, even while clashing with the imperial family into which she married and bristling in the crushing role into which she unwittingly waltzed.

And yet, somehow, Sisi has become a footnote in modern history, particularly for Americans. It is so interesting to me how many women—women who accomplished huge things—have slipped through the cracks of history with their stories going largely untold.

To read about Sisi is to be transported to the beautiful and romantic world of the imperial Habsburg Court, filled with Walt Disney-esque castles and grand ballrooms and violin waltzes. It is to travel to Vienna during the time of Klimt’s art, Strauss’s music, and Freud’s scientific breakthroughs.

And yet, Sisi’s story is not your typical fairytale. Hers is a tale of drama, complexity, love triangles and intimate struggles that play out on an imperial stage with international consequences. I mentioned before that history provides the best raw material, and that is certainly the case with Sisi.

Greer: What’s your most recent book about and why did you decide to write it?

Allison: My most recent novel, WHERE THE LIGHT FALLS, was published this July and it is an historical fiction set during the French Revolution. Talk about a period roiling with drama!

The book plunges readers, at the beginning, into the turbulent days known as the “Reign of Terror.” Three years after the storming of the Bastille, Paris is enlivened with the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The monarchy of King Louis and Marie Antoinette has been dismantled—with the help of a new invention by Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin—and a new nation, for the people, is rising up in its place.

Our story follows a quartet of historically-inspired protagonists—André Valiere, Jean-Luc St. Clair, Sophie de Vincennes and Marie St. Clair. They are all fictional characters, though their stories and struggles were inspired by real events.

From the cafés to the courtrooms, from the alleyways of Paris to the battlefields of Napoleon’s conquests in Egypt—and featuring cameos from legendary figures such as Maximilien Robespierre, Louis XVI and Alexandre Dumas—WHERE THE LIGHT FALLS was an epic journey for me, as the writer. And I hope for readers, too!

Greer: What book, movie or TV show would your readers probably be surprised to find out you love?

Allison: It’s no surprise that "The Crown", "Versailles", "Poldark" and "Downton Abbey" are some of my favorite television series, right? But I also have some guilty pleasures… I probably should not admit this, but sometimes at the end of a long day, there’s nothing I enjoy more than to curl up on the couch and dive into some really questionable reality television. I have definitely found myself mesmerized and perplexed by "The Bachelor"; how do these contestants form such intense connections so quickly? Also, some of the Real Housewives franchises are fascinating to me. The New York one is close to home and yet it feels like an entirely different world, so it can be fun to watch the drama play out from the relative safety of my own couch.

Allison: Greer, you have been granted supernatural abilities on the time / space continuum. Congratulations! Which five figures from history will you invite to sit down and break bread with at your dinner party?

Greer: This question is so difficult! I spend so much time reading about history that my brain is definitely overpopulated with possibilities. But here are the first five who come to mind:

1. Kate Warne, of course. First female Pinkerton detective, Union spy, without whom Abraham Lincoln might not have made it to his inauguration alive. I wrote a novel about her (GIRL IN DISGUISE) based on the skeletal information in the historical records -- I'd love to hear directly from her what her life was really like.
2. Nellie Bly. Groundbreaking "girl reporter" who not only went undercover in an insane asylum in 1887 but then followed it up by racing around the world to see if it could be done in fewer than 80 days. In the 1880s. By herself. With one dress and the 19th-century equivalent of a gym bag. The guts of that woman!
3. Anne Bonny. Notorious lady pirate. I mean, talk about the challenges of succeeding in a male-dominated industry. 
4. Katharine Wright Haskell. Did you know the Wright Brothers had a sister? I'm dying to read more about her, and since you've given me the power to go straight to the source, I definitely want to hear the tales she had to tell.
5. Michelle Obama. Just because I really want to hang out with Michelle Obama. Seems like a good enough reason.

Find out more about Allison and her books at the links below:

AllisonPataki.com 

 Twitter.com/allisonpataki 

Facebook

Insta: @allisonpataki

WomensHistoryReads interview: Laurel Davis Huber

One of the fun challenges of a major month-long project like these #WomensHistoryReads interviews is figuring out what order to post them in. So many great authors! So many great answers! But when I found out yesterday that Laurel Davis Huber's THE VELVETEEN DAUGHTER was awarded the 2017 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction, I knew it was time to move her interview to the front of the line and share. Congratulations, Laurel!

Laurel Davis Huber

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

Laurel: It was my sixth birthday, January 28, 1957. My mother and I were in the kitchen making a birthday cake when the doorbell rang. It was Mrs. Chaplin, my first grade teacher, who stood at the door. She had a gift in her hands. (You might think, Whoa, teacher’s pet! And you might be partly right, but the truth was simply that the Chaplins were neighbors and friends of my parents.) Anyway, the gift was an alphabet book, Beginning With A. There were short poems inside, each named for a child. A is for Alexander, J is for Josephine, O is for Oliver, etc. But it was the drawings that were truly entrancing: each child surrounded by a different, gorgeous frame of diamonds and bows and the most exquisite geometric designs. I loved the book, and I held on to it.

More than half a century later, when I was having trouble making headway with a novel (can you imagine?), I procrastinated by reaching for my beloved Beginning With A. For the first time, I paid attention to the name of the author/illustrator—Pamela Bianco. Just to procrastinate further, I Googled her name. Quickly I discovered she had been a world-famous child prodigy artist. Fascinated, I kept Googling. One thing led to another, and I found out her mother was Margery Williams, author of the children’s classic, The Velveteen Rabbit. I was hooked. And thus one novel was set aside and a new one began—The Velveteen Daughter. So as it turned out, the woman who inspired my writing was my first-grade teacher. Which does make things come full circle, doesn’t it?

Greer: A lovely circle! Next up: what’s the last book that blew you away?

Laurel: Interesting, the phrase “blew me away.” While a vivid metaphor, it also makes me realize how while The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish most certainly did blow me away, it also did quite the opposite—it ensnared me, pulling me into its depths. I was so happily mired in this beautiful story that I did not want it to end. The novel, an intricately wrought literary thriller, begins with the discovery of 17th century papers found hidden under a London staircase. The story concerns Ester, a young Jewish woman living in Amsterdam in the late 1600’s who becomes a scribe for a blind rabbi. The fact that, as a woman, she is even literate, let alone proficient in Greek and Latin, is a wonder. Her heart yearns for knowledge, for the chance to converse with the great (male) philosophers of her time, especially the exiled Spinoza. Ester’s literacy—and her lack of a dowry—makes marriage a difficult proposition. Her tribulations, and the fierce intellectual burning that fuels her quest for the freedom to think, to express herself, combined with a compelling and emotional plot, make for an exceptional read. Toward the end of her life, Ester wants her diary to be burned. These are her words:

"Let the pages burn, for such be the fate of the soul, that all our striving be dust, and none in the bright living world ever know truly what once lived and died in another heart.”  

Until now, my favorite literary thriller was Possession by A. S. Byatt. I still love that novel, but The Weight of Ink has toppled it from its throne.

Greer: Your description is mouth-watering -- now I'm dying to read The Weight of Ink. What unsung woman from history would you most like to read a book about, and who should write it?

Laurel: My “unsung woman from the past” would actually be four women – the women who shaped Benedict Arnold. (What can I say - Arnold is one of my obsessions.) We tend to forget that until he wasn’t, Arnold was a brave patriot, a beloved leader of his troops, and an honorable man. Arnold grew up without a male role model at home. He was deeply ashamed of his father, the town drunk. But he had great love and respect for his mother, and these feelings continued with the other women who helped to shape his life: his sister (who ran his household when he was widowed with children), and his two wives. His second wife, Peggy Shippen, just nineteen when she married Arnold, was both beautiful and highly intelligent. It is very likely that she was a large factor in Arnold’s decision to turn traitor. The story of Arnold’s women is a very colorful one. I’m afraid I’d have to choose myself to write it – it’s the book I set aside in answer #1!

Greer: And is that your next book? When will we see more from you?

Laurel: Actually, my next book is a stark departure from historical fiction. It is contemporary, with elements of magical realism. While the story revolves around a woman, her family, and a dog (the dog being extremely important), the cast of characters also includes Queen Victoria, Odysseus, Cleopatra, and Little Bo Peep.

Enough said, I think!

I am aiming for an early 2019 publication date, but who knows.

Greer: Can't wait to see how that cast of characters comes together.

Laurel: And your question: Do you ever think about writing outside your genre? I am, naturally, a huge fan of stories about great unknown women from the past, but are there other kinds of stories that gnaw at your brain? 

Greer: The writer's mind is a vast, unconquerable landscape. For years and years I wrote nothing but contemporary, and ended up accidentally writing historical fiction when I got the idea for THE MAGICIAN'S LIE. Then for several years after that, every single idea that came to me was a historical fiction idea, most with that strong element of uncovering women's stories from the past, as you mentioned. But now a new (but also old?) gnawing has begun. Other, non-historical ideas are popping up. I don't know when I'll have the time or energy to pursue them, but I'm definitely keeping track.

Find out more about Laurel Davis Huber and her prize-winning book The Velveteen Daughter at her website, laureldavishuber.com.

WomensHistoryReads interview: Jennifer Laam

One of the most delightful perks of authordom is getting a sneak peek at upcoming books -- when there's a potential big overlap between your readership and the readership of a new book, getting asked to read for a blurb is a great honor. When it helps you discover a book you didn't know you'd love, it's a joy. So it was when I got to read Jennifer Laam's latest novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, before its recent release. Now it's out for the world to read and enjoy! And I knew when I decided to put together the #WomensHistoryReads interview series that Jennifer's take on Natalya Goncharova needed to be on the list. Here's our Q&Q&Q&A.

Jennifer Laam

Greer: How would you describe what you write?

Jennifer: I write historical fiction with strong romantic elements. I love bringing two characters together and depicting passionate physical, emotional, and intellectual connections between them. At the same time, I explore both the world of the past and the continuing allure of certain historical figures and events. My first two books – The Secret Daughter of the Tsar and The Tsarina’s Legacy – feature plot lines set in both the past and present. In those books, modern-day characters are drawn to the tragic last Romanovs and Catherine the Great respectively. My recent novel The Lost Season of Love and Snow is a more traditional work of historical fiction in that it is set exclusively in the past and focuses on one character: Natalya Goncharova, the notorious wife of celebrated poet Alexander Pushkin.

In my view, Natalya’s personal history was too often eclipsed by a tiresome trope and she was depicted as the seductive woman who brought down a great man. I focused on aspects of her life that might resonate with contemporary readers, such as her uncomfortable interactions with the tsar, a man with complete power over her. In this way, even in a traditional historical fiction format, I could continue to investigate the deep associations between past and present.

Greer: Do you consider yourself a historian?

Jennifer: I do! Academic history and fiction intersect at points where we piece together the truth of a woman’s life, often using resources other than firsthand narratives. My master’s thesis consisted of biographical work on three early American women. The research process for that project informed my approach to The Lost Season of Love and Snow. I wanted to recover and recreate Natalya’s experiences in her marriage to Alexander Pushkin while still maintaining a twenty-first century feminist perspective. Having said that, I embrace the opportunity afforded me as a novelist to take educated guesses regarding women’s perceptions of their own lives. I try to flesh that out to create complex characters who can help provide insight into issues that still haunt us, such as sexual harassment.

Greer: It's amazing how far we've come and how far we haven't. More of a curveball for your last question: What book, movie or TV show would your readers probably be surprised to find out you love?

Jennifer: I’m not sure if this is a surprise, but I’ve seen every episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and know way too many stretches of dialogue by heart. I love science fiction almost as much as I love historical. Both genres lend themselves to allegory and commentary on current politics and events. I think the distance of both past and future settings makes it more likely a writer can change hearts and minds. A reader or viewer with a particular political perspective in relation to the present might have greater sympathy for different points of view through these genres. Make it so.

Greer: Yes! Not to give too much away in advance, but I was surprised by how many of the historical fiction authors I asked this question responded with love for sci-fi shows. There's a definite pattern.

Jennifer: And a question for you -- What initially drew you to your heroine Kate Warne, the first female detective at the Pinkerton Agency?

Greer: The idea that she was such an early pioneer grabbed me immediately -- she was hired in 1856, before the Civil War, in a time when it was unusual for a woman to work outside the home at all, let alone in such a dangerous profession. Then it intrigued me that I'd never heard her name before. If we know the name of the man who assassinated Lincoln, why not the name of the woman who saved him from an earlier attempted assassination? While on tour for GIRL IN DISGUISE, I told everyone I was on a Kate Warne Awareness campaign. I want her name to be known.

Want to know more about Jennifer and her books? Check out the links below:

Twitter: twitter.com/JenLaam

Facebook: facebook.com/jenniferlaam.writer

Instagram: instagram.com/jenlaam

Book: bit.ly/lostseasonofloveandsnow

Website: jenniferlaam.com

(And, of course, stay tuned for the next #WomensHistoryReads installment tomorrow.)