Kelly O'Connor McNees Interview - The Myth of Surrender ~ JeanBookNerd

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Kelly O’Connor McNees’s award-winning novels transport readers to pivotal moments in history as seen through the eyes of the resilient, fascinating women who lived through them. Whether it’s a “moving and intimate glimpse” (Publisher’s Weekly) of Eleanor Roosevelt’s love affair with Lorena Hickock in Undiscovered Country, or the tough decisions of Clara, a mail-order bride broker, in In Need of a Good Wife, or Louisa May Alcott’s excruciating choice between love and her writing career in The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, readers are immersed in riveting stories often overlooked in American history.

O’Connor McNees’s forthcoming novel, The Myth of Surrender (March 2022, Pegasus), is the story of an unlikely friendship forged between two young women navigating the secrecy and shame of unwed pregnancy at a home for wayward girls, at the height of the Mad Men age.

In addition to her five novels, Kelly’s writing has appeared in The Millions, The Washington Post, The Toast, and in Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology. She has also written for The Boxcar Children series. Kelly is represented by Kate McKean of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. Born and raised in Michigan, she lives in Chicago with her family.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pegasus Books (March 1, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1643139304
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1643139302

Praise for THE MYTH OF SURRENDER

“McNees has written a powerful, cinematic, and very beautiful novel about the miracles and catastrophes of motherhood. The women who inhabit this story are all so gloriously alive! Humane, compelling, sharp, and sensitive, The Myth of Surrender will stay with me for a very long time.” —Amy Dickinson, “Ask Amy” advice columnist, New York Times bestselling author of The Mighty Queens of Freeville

“A brave and important book. McNees’s literary acumen is on full display in this beautiful, deeply affecting novel. She explores what it meant to be unwed and pregnant in mid-century America with sensitivity, erudition, and first-rate storytelling. Impossible to put down, this is a spell-binding tale of deceit, abuse, and ultimately, reclamation.” ―Lori Nelson Spielman, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

"Both an illumination of the past and an indictment of the present, The Myth of Surrender is McNees at her best—giving voice to women who could not speak for themselves.” —Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of THE WEIRD SISTERS and THE LIGHT IN PARIS

“A timely and powerful tale of motherhood, loss, and second chances. Kelly O’Connor McNees’s unforgettable novel illuminates an era that all too many people tried to forget. The scars are there—brava to McNees for also revealing the beauty.” —Siobhan Fallon, author of YOU KNOW WHEN THE MEN ARE GONE and THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

I have been lucky to have so many rewarding experiences. I think because my books are all in some way about women’s experiences, readers often reach out to me to share moments of connection they found with the characters and in their own histories. One amazing connection happened last year, when I heard from a reader in Uruguay who had always been interested in Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok and somehow found my novel about their relationship. She turned out to be Ana Luisa Valdez, an accomplished writer and translator as well as an activist who was once a political prisoner. It was so exciting to learn about her and read her work, as well as connect and share details of our lives. You just never know who might read your work.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?

I have been lucky to receive a lot of good advice over the years. Don’t rush to show your work to people too soon. Have faith in the vision you have for it and see that through until it stands on its own enough to let other voices in. (Stephen King says it this way: Write with the door closed; edit with the door open.”) It’s tempting to want encouragement or praise to keep going, but sometimes new ideas are too tender and undercooked to expose to any judgment. You’ll know when the time is right to share it.

Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book?

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. A master class in POV.

Greatest thing you learned in school.

That becoming a strong writer would help me perform better in every subject.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?

Oh, I have lots! Following that good advice I mentioned, I keep them pretty close to the vest before they are written!

In your newest book; THE MYTH OF SURRENDER, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it.

In 1960, free-spirited Doreen is a recent high-school grad and waitress in a Chicago diner. She doesn't know Margie, sixteen and bookish, who lives a sheltered suburban life, but they soon meet when unplanned pregnancies send them to the Holy Family Home for the Wayward in rural Illinois. Assigned as roommates because their due dates line up, Margie and Doreen navigate Holy Family’s culture of secrecy and shame and become fast friends as the weight of their coming decision — to keep or surrender their babies — becomes clear.

Except, they soon realize, the decision has already been made for them. Holy Family, like many of the maternity homes where 1.5 million women “relinquished” their babies in what is now known as the Baby Scoop Era, is not interested in what the birth mothers want. In its zeal to make the babies “legitimate” in closed adoptions, Holy Family manipulates and bullies birth mothers, often coercing them to sign away their parental rights while still under the effects of anesthesia.

What happens next, as their babies are born and they leave Holy Family behind, will force each woman to confront the depths and limits of motherhood and friendship, and fight to reclaim control over their own lives.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?

I hope readers enjoy this exploration of friendship and motherhood, and think about some of the big questions I wonder about in terms of what friends owe each other, and themselves. I also hope more readers will learn about what happened during the Baby Scoop Era, and the lessons it has to teach us even today.

What part of Doreen did you enjoy writing the most?

It was fun to write a character who is outspoken and doesn’t care too much what people think of her choices. She has a vision for what she wants her life to be and will do what she needs to do to realize it. She is a survivor. But so is Margie, just in a different way.

What was your unforgettable moment while writing THE MYTH OF SURRENDER?

I don’t want to spoil an important moment in the story, but I will say that when I realized what could happen to link the two characters’ lives in the years after they left the maternity home, I knew I could build the book around it.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?

I would like to introduce my fictional version of Louisa May Alcott to Jane Eyre because LMA admired Bronte and loved that story.

Choose a unique item from your wallet and explain why you carry it around.

I carry all the library cards I’ve ever had, from all the cities I’ve lived in over the years. They remind me what a constant books, both reading them and writing them, have been for me in my life. No matter where we went (and we moved around a lot!), the library was always there, like a dependable friend.

If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be?

If all the logistics could magically be taken care of, and I didn’t have to work, probably the west of Ireland.

Best date you've ever had?

My first date with my husband was a 10 am coffee date… that extended into a 1 p.m. lunch date…that extended into a 4 p.m. walk home. We just had so much to talk about, and neither of us wanted it to end.

Most memorable birthday?

On my thirty-second birthday I was just a few days away from giving birth to my daughter. I always tell her she was my present!

What do you think is the single best decision you've made in your life so far?

Marrying my husband, because that decision has led to so many others that have really given us a wonderful life we are grateful for.

What was the best memory you ever had as a writer?

The day I signed my first book contract, back in 2009, is a highlight. I had been dreaming of that moment since I was about nine years old. My husband went out and bought a stupidly expensive bottle of champagne. We were barely getting by at that time, so I was both mad at him and grateful. He has supported my work since the first day we met.

What if the most important decision of your life was not yours to make? This vivid and powerful novel follows two women whose paths intersect at a maternity home in the "Baby Scoop Era."

In 1960, free-spirited Doreen is a recent high-school grad and waitress in a Chicago diner. She doesn't know Margie, sixteen and bookish, who lives a sheltered suburban life, but they soon meet when unplanned pregnancies send them to the Holy Family Home for the Wayward in rural Illinois. Assigned as roommates because their due dates line up, Margie and Doreen navigate Holy Family’s culture of secrecy and shame and become fast friends as the weight of their coming decision — to keep or surrender their babies — becomes clear.

Except, they soon realize, the decision has already been made for them. Holy Family, like many of the maternity homes where 1.5 million women “relinquished” their babies in what is now known as the Baby Scoop Era, is not interested in what the birth mothers want. In its zeal to make the babies “legitimate” in closed adoptions, Holy Family manipulates and bullies birth mothers, often coercing them to sign away their parental rights while still under the effects of anesthesia.

What happens next, as their babies are born and they leave Holy Family behind, will force each woman to confront the depths and limits of motherhood and friendship, and fight to reclaim control over their own lives.

Written by the acclaimed author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and Undiscovered Country, The Myth of Surrender explores a hidden chapter of American history that still reverberates across the lives of millions of women and their children.

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