What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The River's Edge?
I imagined the main characters first, Lydia Owens and Elias Aronson, and I knew I wanted a historic place and time for them to meet and get together. I’d also had a historical incident at the back of my mind for a long time; the murder of a Union officer in Augusta, Georgia, just after the war ended in 1865. When I learned about occupied Memphis, where the cotton trade corrupted everyone and where vice paraded down Main Street at all hours, the story came together.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The River's Edge, what would they be?
All these songs are from that time, and each character would have known the melody and the lyrics. I never knew before that the Library of Congress keeps a list of the greatest hits of the 1850s!
Lydia Owens: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” a Methodist hymn written by Charles Wesley.
Elias Aronson: “Go Down, Moses (Song of the Contrabands),” first sung in the contraband camps beginning in 1862.
Cassie Andrews: “Wade in the Water,” a traditional gospel song.
Moses Hayes: “John Brown’s Body,” an anthem of Black soldiers during the Civil War.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of mystery, and I’m wide-ranging in my interests. The common thread is female sleuths, both historical and contemporary (although I’m still surprised that the 1970s are now fifty years in the past). It seems that this has become my favorite genre to write as well, even though I weave a lot of history around the mystery.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
- Martha Conway, The Underground River — good enough to re-read; a wonderful story of slavery and courage in the 1830s, with a river running through it, which inspired my book’s cover.
- Allison Montclair, An Excellent Thing in a Woman — the most recent book in the Bainbridge and Sparks mystery series.
- Abir Mukherjee, A Rising Man — the first book in the Sam Wyndham series, set in Calcutta shortly after WWI.
- Ashley Gardner, The Thames River Murders — part of the Captain Lacey mystery series set in Regency England.
- Syou Ishida, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat (I was sold on this for the cover alone!).
- Amy Poeppel’s newest, Farm and Away, because I liked her book Limelight so much.
- Louis C. Hunter, Steamboats of the Western Rivers — as research for an upcoming book; an exhaustive (and truly weighty) survey of the topic.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
The scene where Lydia and Elias argue and really come together.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
I have insomnia, and I handle it by spending too much time letting my characters play in my head in the middle of the night. I wish my cat would sit in my lap, but I’m still working on overcoming the unhappy kittenhood that made her wary of affection.
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
God made burdens, but God also made shoulders.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
To quote William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.”
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