Memorable Novels

by Joan

“When a man is in doubt about this or that in his writing, it will often guide him if he asks himself how it will tell a hundred years hence.” Samuel Butler

As writers we want our words to have meaning, to be everlasting. Why else write them down? Why else seek publication?

But what makes a memorable novel? Sometimes I’ll read a book – one I truly loved – and not remember many details, only that it touched me in some way. Less frequently I’ll read a novel, close the cover and want to reread it immediately. Or I'll think about the characters for days later, if not months and years. Wonder, not how the author accomplished this or that, but what those characters are doing now. As though they are flesh and blood, not ink on a page.

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi stayed with me for years. I’m still haunted by Richard Parker, and by Pi’s message. Which story is easier to believe?

I’ll never forget Vida Winter, her arthritic bejeweled fingers and black bangs, how she slowly unfurled the story of her tragic childhood to Margaret. And Margaret traipsing through the burned-out ruin of Vida’s childhood home.

I won’t forget Frank McCourt’s miserable childhood, lice and all, Artemisia Gentileschi’s bound and mangled fingers, Harold Fry’s blistered and bloody feet, naïve Alma Whittaker’s discovery of the binding closet.

The quest to write a memorable novel haunts every author. I might have a good novel in me, I might have a thrilling novel in me. But do I have a memorable novel? How will my story tell a hundred years hence?

Art, photography and imagery

by Joan

Photo by Rick Mora

Once upon a time, I was an art major. Never mind that I have little artistic talent; I imagined myself in a seaside cottage with paintbrush, palette and canvas. That lasted for one semester, quick enough to realize I was in the wrong major, long enough to feel sophisticated about sketching live nudes. (I heard they made good money, but who were those models with the nerve to undress in front of thirty students, anyway?)

Although I gave up my dream of being a visual artist, my passion developed into a lifelong love of art and imagery. I am drawn to art on the page, to literature, to life revealed in my mind’s eye. 

Some of my favorite books feature artists, real or imagined: Susan Vreeland’s Passion of Artemisia, Rosamunde Pilcher’s Shell Seekers, Sarah Stonich’s Ice Chorus, Tracy Chevalier's Girl with the Pearl Earring, among many others (including Kim's).

I’ve been fortunate in my life to have visited many of the world’s greatest galleries. If you've ever tried to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art in one day, you know there’s never enough time to appreciate every painting. Often I felt that combination of gallery fatigue and guilt that author Tracy Chevalier describes in her wonderful TED talk: “Finding the story inside the painting.” (do yourself a favor and take 15 minutes to watch).

Photo by Rick Mora

You might not think Tracy Chevalier would get gallery fatigue. After all, she must have spent hours staring at Vermeer’s “Girl with the Pearl Earring” while writing her gorgeous novel. In fact she did. But just as we can’t read every book in a bookstore before choosing one, we can’t truly see and appreciate every painting in a gallery. “I pinpoint the ones that make me slow down,” Chevalier says. “I stand in front of that painting and I tell myself a story about it.”

Photo by Rick Mora

Paintings inspire stories, yes, but photography does as well. 

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second,” said French photographer Marc Riboud.

Water reflections, Photo by Rick Mora

Saturday we visited the Botanical Gardens of Fort Worth. It was early for blooms, but the first day of a remarkable butterfly exhibit. In a hundredth of a second, Rick captured tiny wings that looked like they’d been drawn by an artist. He captured a moment with two ducks synchronize swimming and another with a heron jaw-wrestling a fish and swallowing it whole (not pictured).

In this lovely reflection of water, I see a story. I see a nun hiding (bottom right), perhaps holding a basket of coconuts or a baby. I see Father Winter blinking, or perhaps it's Saint Nicholas (mid-frame). In between those two, I see a zebra, or is it a white horse behind bars? There's a story waiting to be told. 

Eudora Welty said, "A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away." Snap an image that speaks to you and write it how you see it.

Our Best Reads of 2011

By Kim

All of us at What Women Write are compulsive readers as well as writers. As 2011 comes to a close we thought it may be fun to share the books we loved most this year. As you will see, our taste is varied. There are only two books we have all agreed on. The first was The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and the second is a book that won't hit the bookstores until sometime in 2013 - namely Calling Me Home by our very own Julie Kibler!

Have you read any of the books we mention below? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Inspired to run to your nearest bookstore and pick one up? We’d love to hear that, too.

Susan Poulos

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett- (probably one of the best books I have ever read.)
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht
Bent Road by Lori Roy
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

I would classify all of them as literary fiction, although Lori's is probably considered a literary thriller. I also think that all except for State of Wonder are debuts... imagine that!!

Kim Bullock

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - I devoured this historical mystery in two days!

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland – I picked this one up because I love everything by Susan Vreeland, and this one happens to take place in NYC in the same year my great-grandfather was there. He even knew Mr. Tiffany. Clara was unforgettable – very ahead of her time.

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman – This was a beautiful novel about three WWII soldiers and their wives.

The Truth About Delilah Blue by Tish Cohen – I love books with artist protagonists, and there are so many Canadian authors who are neglected in US markets.

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin - I challenge anyone to forget Vinnie! What an incredible life.

Bloodroot by Amy Greene - Very unique voice, and a haunting narrative.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton – The woman is a genius. Any of her books are wonderful.

Elizabeth Lynd

Sally Gunning! She has three, The Widow’s War; Bound; and The Rebellion of Jane Clarke (which I think came out in 2011). All are absolutely perfect.

Joan Mora

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
22 Britannia Road, by Amanda Hodgkinson
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
The Persimmon Tree, by Bryce Courtenay
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks (1/2 way finished!)

What do all these books have in common? Stellar character and voice!

Pamela Hammonds

My reading choices tend to be all over the place--humor, memoir, women's fiction and more. But my most memorable reads for this year are:

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
Unplanned by Abby Johnson
Stop Dressing Your Six-year-old Like a Skank by Celia Rivenbark
Another Man's War by Sam Childers
Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

But I'll have to say, my greatest source of reading pleasure this past year came from my fellow What Women Writers. I read Julie's manuscript in early 2011, just finished Susan's and will soon finish Joan's. Next year, I plan to read Kim's and Elizabeth's completed manuscripts. And hopefully they will be reading mine before too long as well.

Julie Kibler

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - Each time I read a book set in England, I want to go back. Immediately. This was a quiet book with a big message.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I waited too long to read this. Loved it/hated it. Was sucked in and could barely climb out when finished, but have somehow managed to not read the second and third in the series yet. I can't wait for the movie.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum - I believe we will read holocaust stories forever and never comprehend the horror of all that happened.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo - I wonder, when I read a book like this, what took me so long to pick it up.

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan - Like my novel, this explores pushing racial boundaries to the point of danger. Another one I waited too long to read.

How to Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway - I loved this even more due to getting to know Margaret in person beforehand and recognizing the bits and pieces of her heart that are hidden in this story.

Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr. - I read this based on Carleen Brice's recommendation while researching point of view for my manuscript, and I couldn't put it down. A heartrending father/son story.

Falling Under by Danielle Younge-Ullman - My fellow Backspacer reissued this digitally after the rights reverted back to her. It's not for the faint of heart, and if you are a child of divorce, you will recognize your own heart on every single page.

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal- Because I read Barbara's new stories every single year and love them every single year.

Barbara's was the only one on this list originally published in 2011! Many I've listed have stood the test of time—they aren't newly published, but they've stayed on the shelves and gone back for printing after printing and appear on many lists. The reasons are obvious when you read them. But when I consider my books-read list, I see many 2011 books I loved, too! It's hard to choose "favorites."


What are your favorite books of 2011? We'd love to hear from you!

A Review of Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland

By Kim

Synopsis of Clara and Mr. Tiffany: (from the book jacket) 

Against the unforgettable backdrop of New York near the turn of the twentieth century, from the Gilded Age world of formal balls and opera to the immigrant poverty of the Lower East Side, bestselling author Susan Vreeland again breathes life into a work of art in this extraordinary novel, which brings a woman once lost in the shadows into vivid color.

It’s 1893, and at the Chicago World’s Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows, which he hopes will honor his family business and earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women’s division. Publicly unrecognized by Tiffany, Clara conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which he is long remembered.Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman, which ultimately force her to protest against the company she has worked so hard to cultivate. She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five men, including Tiffany, who enforces to a strict policy: he does not hire married women, and any who do marry while under his employ must resign immediately. Eventually, like many women, Clara must decide what makes her happiest—the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart.

About Susan Vreeland: (from the book jacket) 

Susan Vreeland is the New York Times bestselling author of five books, including Luncheon of the Boating Party, Life Studies, The Passion of Artemisia, The Forest Lover and Girl in Hyacinth Blue. She lives in San Diego.

Review: 

Rarely have I started a book with such high expectations. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Susan Vreeland, but I consider her a mentor of sorts. She, along with Stephanie Cowell and Jane Urquhart, have shown me the world through an artist’s eyes, a crucial skill considering the novel I’m now writing.

Given that I love art, history, and stories about strong women ahead of their times, I was inclined to love Clara and Mr. Tiffany before I even opened it. When I saw that the story began in New York City in 1892, I admit my heart began to race. This was not just Clara’s world, but my great-grandfather’s. The real Clara Driscoll, while searching at the Art Students' League for suitable girls to hire, may have caught sight of an unusually tall and striking young Canadian painter named Carl Ahrens. She could have met him through Louis Comfort Tiffany, William Merritt Chase or George Inness, all of whom Carl did know, or even George Waldo, whom Carl likely knew. He may have lived in her neighborhood. I couldn’t help but see him there.

High expectations often lead to disappointment, but such was not the case with Clara and Mr. Tiffany. I found the story so engrossing, in fact, that after the first few chapters I contentedly inhabited turn-of-the-century New York without looking for my ancestor around every bend. Those who know me well will understand what a high compliment that is.

Photo by Hannes Grobe

I laughed over the antics at Clara’s boarding house, winced over the living conditions on the Lower East Side, cheered when Clara led the fight against sexism in the workplace, and cried over the death of a character I had come to love almost as much as Clara did. I also admired that Vreeland did not shy away from characters who would have been marginalized or even denounced at the time; poor immigrants, homosexuals, the handicapped. There’s even an interracial marriage. As for Mr. Tiffany, Vreeland neither put him on a pedestal nor denounced him, either of which would have made him rather a cardboard character. She let him be a man, flawed yet endearing, and he jumped off the page.

I have read a few grumbles about the length of time spent explaining the processes of making the famous Tiffany lamps. Some reviewers went so far as to say they felt like they were attending a college lecture. Yes, there’s a lot of detail about glassmaking, selecting, cutting, etc, and occasionally there are awkward bits of dialogue where the characters educate each other (and the reader.) I easily overlooked this because I’m fascinated by artistic processes of any sort. Those readers who aren’t so inclined may find themselves skimming though those parts of the novel.

I will certainly not be able to look at a Tiffany lamp or window again without thinking of Clara Driscoll.

If any of you have read Clara and Mr. Tiffany and would like to share your thoughts, we'd love to hear from you! If you have not, the novel is available at bookstores everywhere.