I'd like to welcome Joan Steinau Lester to the blog today to celebrate and promote the most recent publication from Atria Books, Mama's Child. Be sure to stick around until the end to get the chance to win a copy!
Welcome to Books à la Mode, Joan! Let's get this interview started.
Welcome to Books à la Mode, Joan! Let's get this interview started.
Will you please share a brief bio with us?
Black, White, Other was my first novel, and I loved approaching the issue from the lens of a fifteen-year-old girl, whose voice came to me quite naturally, probably from raising my own children and being close to other teens. Having permission to create scenes, instead of attempting journalistic accuracy, allowed me a fantastic freedom to explore the intricacies of family or friend dynamics among people of different "races."
My newest novel, Mama's Child (Atria/Simon & Schuster, May, 2013), is another variation on the theme I seem to have chosen as my life beat. Or perhaps it has chosen me. This story, which spans 30 years, uses two voices: a white mother and her biracial daughter.
A third novel in progress, Langston Hughes and the One True Me, will be published in 2014 by the exciting new West Coast publishing house, Creston Books.
I feel privileged and honored to be able to practice my craft and at the same time provide healing and insight to readers, as well as entertainment.
Readers, stay in touch! Thank you.
Tell us a bit more about your newest release.
A stunning tale about the deeply entrenched conflicts between a white mother and her biracial daughter.
Mama’s Child is story of an idealistic young white woman who travelled to the American South as a civil rights worker, fell in love with an African American man, and started a family in San Francisco, where the more liberal city embraced them—except when it didn’t. They raise a son and daughter, but the tensions surrounding them have a negative impact on their marriage, and they divorce when their children are still young. For their biracial daughter, this split further destabilizes her already challenged sense of self—“Am I black or white?” she must ask herself, “Where do I belong?” Is she her father’s daughter alone?
As the years pass, the chasm between them widens, even as the mother attempts to hold on to the emotional chord that binds them. It isn’t until the daughter, Ruby, herself becomes a wife and mother that she begins to develop compassion and understanding for the many ways that her own mother’s love transcended race and questions of identity.
Buy the book at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Sony eStore | Kobo
Describe Mama's Child in six words.Civil rights era biracial mother-daughter conflict.
How did you arrive at writing historical and literary fiction?
After publishing hundreds of opinion pieces, first-person essays, and a biography—all journalistic nonfiction—for twenty years, I thought it would be a relief to enter a more imaginative realm. I've also always loved reading the two genres, so was game to try my hand at it.
Are there any other genres you’d like to tackle in the future, or any you want to stay away from?
I'll probably stay away from hard-core detective thrillers or police procedurals, since I don't read them, but might someday continue with a literary novel I once started, which has a mystery tucked inside it.
Ooh! Something to look forward to. What was the inspiration for Mama's Child?
Seeing my own biracial children's identity struggles as they moved through their teen years. While Mama's Child is entirely fictional, the "Who am I?" issues that play out in a particularly poignant way for biracial people was a topic I wanted to address again, after tackling it Black, White, Other.
Readers, click "Read more" to learn about Joan's road to publication, the criticality of putting real life into fiction, and some of the author's own tried-and-true writing advice. You also don't want to miss the great giveaway at the end!
