Carol will discuss the inspiration for Before She Was a Finley, a prequel to Carol’s award-winning novel, Without Grace, take questions and sign purchased copies. You may find out more about her at Carolhoenig.com.
Carol Hoenig and her latest novel, Before She Was a Finley
“We need more North Country novels like Without Grace, novels with a keen sense of place.” –North Country Public Radio
Before She was a Finley answers that call.
In Carol Hoenig’s previous novel, Without Grace, it is believed that Grace Finley walked out on her husband and two young children to fulfill a selfish dream of becoming a famous singer, leaving behind rumors and questions among her family and townsfolk in the mountains of Upstate New York.
Now in Before She Was a Finley, it is years later when Adele, a reluctant young journalism student is assigned to “get” a story from a local nursing home where she comes across elderly Grace Finley. Over time, Grace slowly takes Adele back to the 1930s and subsequent years that follow as she provides bits and pieces that eventually reveal the dark truth as to why she walked out on her family carrying only a guitar and suitcase. Adele knows that the class assignment was simply to write about a local person, and even though journalists aren’t supposed to be a part of the story, she cannot shake what she discovered and wants to do more to set the record straight. But is there anyone still alive who would care?
About the Author:
Carol Hoenig is the author of Without Grace, Of Little Faith and The Author’s Guide to Planning Book Events. Her essays are in a number of anthologies. She is President of Carol Hoenig Publishing Consultant, co-owner of On the Road Book Events and co-podcaster on Wildflowers Podcast: Books, Booze and Banter. She is presently working on another novel…or two. You may find out more about her at Carolhoenig.com.
Carol will discuss and sign purchased copies of Before She was a Finley. Her backlist titles of Without Grace and Of Little Faith will be available for purchase as well.
Meet Author Carrie Mullins
Carrie Mullins will discuss “The Book of Mothers: How Literature Can Help Us Reinvent Modern Motherhood” with author Carol Hoenig
This treasure trove for book lovers explores fifteen classic novels with memorable maternal figures, and examines how our cultural notions of motherhood have been shaped by literature.
Sweet, supportive, dependable, selfless. Long before she had children of her own, journalist Carrie Mullins knew how mothers should behave. But how? Where did these expectations come from–and, more importantly, are they serving the mothers whose lives they shape? Carrie’s suspicion, later crystallized while raising two small children, was that our culture’s idealization of motherhood was not only painfully limiting but harmful, leaving women to cope with impossible standards–standards rarely created by mothers themselves.
To discover how we might talk about motherhood in a more realistic, nuanced, and inclusive way, Carrie turned to literature with memorable maternal figures for answers. Moving through the literary canon–from Pride and Prejudice and Little Women to The Great Gatsby, Beloved, Heartburn, and The Joy Luck Club–Carrie traces the origins of our modern mothering experience. By interrogating the influences of politics, economics, feminism, pop culture, and family life in each text, she identifies the factors that have shaped our prevailing views of motherhood, and puts these classics into conversation with the most urgent issues of the day. Who were these literary mothers, beyond their domestic responsibilities and familial demands? And what lessons do they have for us today–if we choose to listen?
Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Carrie Mullins is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in Parents, Food & Wine Magazine, Epicurious, Tin House, and Publishers Weekly, among other publications. She is a former National Editor at the James Beard Award-winning website Serious Eats and a longtime contributor to Electric Literature, where she covered the intersection of literature and culture.
Carol Hoenig writes for Long Island Woman Magazine and is an award-winning novelist whose latest novel, “Before She Was a Finley” will be published September 10, 2024.
