Jojo Moyes, the beloved author of more than a dozen novels including the adapted-for-the-screen Me Before You, will be back in book stores this fall with a new historical novel.
In The Giver of Stars, Moyes takes readers to Depression-era Kentucky where she follows the lives of a team of women who deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt's traveling library program.
Moyes exclusively talked to Goodreads about her inspiration and research for the upcoming novel and shares an exclusive sneak peek of the book's cover. Be sure to add it to your Want to Read shelf before it comes out on October 8.
Goodreads: The Giver of Stars is based on a true story. Tell readers about how you happened upon that history and why it resonated with you?
Jojo Moyes: I was reading an online edition of the Smithsonian magazine back in June 2017 when I came upon a piece called "Horse-riding Librarians Were the Great Depression’s Bookmobiles." Horses and books are two of my favorite things, so that immediately grabbed my attention.
But it was the images that accompanied the story that really stood out: young women, their saddlebags full of books, preparing to ride out in vast and often unfriendly terrain or reading to families who had nothing.
The story of these women—battling to bring facts and knowledge in an age where snake oil salesmen and religious fundamentalism dictated the behavior of many—seemed hugely resonant. Most of all, I was drawn to a story about women who did something, rather than simply dress beautifully or fall in love.
I have never enjoyed writing a book as much as I loved writing this one.
GR: You’re best known for contemporary fiction. Tell us about the appeal of writing historical fiction and some of the opportunities and challenges you experienced writing about women in Depression-era Kentucky?
JM: I’ve actually written several books set in the past—one in World War I (The Girl You Left Behind), one on a warship in World War II (Ship of Brides), and two in the 1960s (The Last Letter from Your Lover and The Peacock Emporium).
For me, the key is to immerse yourself so that the facts feel like a natural extension of the world you create and not something shoehorned in painfully. I felt a huge responsibility to get this right, not least because the idea of writing about Kentucky and getting it wrong was awful (and Appalachian folk are not slow to let you know if you do!).
So I made a series of visits, staying in a tiny cabin in a remote holler, riding horses up into the mountains on some of the same routes the women would have taken, getting a feel not just for the landscape and wilderness but for the way language is used—in a place where storytelling is part of life.
I also did a lot of reading—from academic texts about mining and prison conditions to court documents of the time to try to ensure factual accuracy. Still, if I hadn’t spent so much time in that part of the mountains, I don’t think I would have been able to write the book. The language and the women I met—strong, resilient, funny, smart women—infuse this book and fuel its spirit. I ended up falling in love with rural Kentucky (not a sentence I ever expected to write) and have made friends I expect to keep for life.
The Giver of Stars will be available on October 8, 2019. Don’t forget to add it to your Want to Read shelf!
posted by Cybil on April, 01
from Goodreads Blog https://ift.tt/2V9CoKD
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment