All posts tagged: writing research

What if Jesus had a wife? Sue Monk Kidd explores this and more in THE BOOK OF LONGING, plus how her primary interest was portraying humanity, how writing is an act of courage, more

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By Leslie Lindsay  An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings.  ~WEDNESDAYS WITH WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, THE BOOK OF LONGINGS (Viking, April 2020), Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything. Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary in a much more humble abode than what she …

Period debut by Gretchen Berg delves into the 1950s in small-town Wooster, Ohio, telephone operators, gossip, class, and more in THE OPERATOR

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By Leslie Lindsay  A light, satisfying read about two women, a small town, and piles of gossip. ~WEDNESDAYS WITH WRITERS| ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Nobody knows the people of small-town Wooster, Ohio better than Vivian Dalton,and she’ll be the first to tell you so. She calls it ‘intuition,’ her teenaged daughter, Charlotte calls it, what it is: eavesdropping. Vivian and her colleagues work at Ohio Bell, connecting lines and lives. No one is supposed to listen in on calls, but they do. THE OPERATOR (William Morrow, March 10 2020) a debut by Gretchen Berg is about rumors, stories, class structure, education, gender inequality, and more. It is often humorous, relatable in most, and though it’s set in the early 1950s, it’s timely and topical, too. Plus, can we say, > “cover crush?! ” We want to believe the 1950s was simpler, easier, but there were true concerns and worries then, too. There’s jealousy, bigotry, infidelity, and even embezzlement. THE OPERATOR is told primarily through Vivian Dalton, who is a bit insecure about her place in the world. She’s bright was asked to give …

Sara Donati–a self-proclaimed ‘long-winded’ storyteller talks about her lushly researched new novel, WHERE THE LIGHT ENTERS, how she was going to be a nurse, how writing is painful, but she’s obsessed, and so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  From the international bestselling author of THE GILDED HOUR, this epic historical fiction about two female doctors set in NYC 1880s will enthrall and capture your heart.  From 1998 to 2011, Sara Donati changed the landscape of historical fiction when she brought readers to the Wilderness series, introducing six historical novels following the Bonner family through upstate New York. Now, WHERE THE LIGHT ENTERS (Berkley, September 10 2019) is a glorious, sweeping sequel to her THE GILDED HOUR (2016) and I immensely enjoyed this historical fiction. In this tale, obstetrician Dr. Sophie Savard returns home to the achingly familiar rhythms of Manhattan in the spring of 1884 to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. With the help of her cousin, dear friend, and fellow physician, Dr. Anna Savard, she plans to continue her work with women who come from the darker side of life. But there have been a rash of murders–specifically–women who have been ripped open with curious wounds to the uterus. Clearly, the person responsible has some medical knowledge? But who? And …