1–What is the title of your latest release? THE REAL MRS. TOBIAS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A sharply funny, big-hearted multigenerational story about the complicated relationships between mothers- and daughters-in-law, told by three women who marry into the same family. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Real Mrs. Tobias takes place in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and at a family farm in Iowa. The New York location was a no-brainer because I have lived on the Upper West Side since moving to NYC after graduating from college. I chose Iowa because of its Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, which factors in the storytelling–that and the butter sculpture at the State Fair. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. In many respects, I already do hang out with Mel Glazer, the primary protagonist, because for better or worse she is the character in the book most like me. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Feisty, warm, and unpretentious 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Writing a book doesn’t get easier, even if it’s #7. 7–Do you edit as you draft…

As we approach the (much different this COVID year) Thanksgiving holidays, traditionally a time of fetes and family gatherings, this month’s selection of novels explores families and family-like relationships that can be either blessing or curse. We begin with THE WRIGHT SISTER by Patty Dann.  While everyone is familiar with the famous brothers who made the first flight at Kitty Hawk, few know about the sister who supported and took care of her famous brothers for most of her life.  After Wilbur’s death, at age 52, Katherine married a widowed friend of the family, Harry Haskell.  Furious and feeling betrayed, Orville remained with a housekeeper in Dayton, Ohio, while his married sister began a new life in Kansas City.  The story is told via her (unanswered) letters to the brother who never forgave her for “abandoning” him and her “marriage diary,” detailing her joy in her new life, her enthusiastic support for the suffragette cause, and her never-realized hopes to reconcile with her brother. A vivid portrait of a woman who was long restrained from becoming all she could be by the demands of her restrictive family. We continue with a better-known woman in LEARNING TO SEE: A NOVEL OF…