Today we’re thrilled to have Martha Conway with us. Her latest novel, THIEVING FOREST (Noontime Books), is the story of seventeen-year-old Susanna Quiner, who watches as a band of Potawatomi Indians kidnaps her four older sisters from their cabin. With both her parents dead from Swamp Fever and all the other settlers out in their fields, Susanna makes the rash decision to pursue them herself. What follows is a young woman’s quest to find her sisters, and the parallel story of her sisters’ new lives. The book explores the transformation of all five sisters as they contend with starvation, slavery, betrayal, and love.
Martha’s first novel 12 Bliss Street was nominated for an Edgar Award, and her short fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Folio, Carolina Quarterly, and other publications. She graduated from Vassar College and received her master’s degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. She has taught fiction at Stanford University’s Online Writer’s Studio and UC Berkeley Extension, and is a recipient of a California Arts Council fellowship in Creative Writing. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she now lives with her family in San Francisco.
Martha tweets ten-minute writing prompts every morning on twitter (#10minprompt). Follow Martha on her website, her blog, Facebook, and twitter.
There’s a joke I once heard that seems applicable to heroines: If the three wise men had been three wise women, they would have asked for directions, gotten to the stable on time, and helped with the birth.
I love that joke not only because it’s funny, but because it reminds me that you can get to work and get yourself dirty without losing your glow of distinction. The traditional hero tends to stand apart from the people he meets along the way, touching down only briefly on his way toward a larger goal. Heroines, however, can retain and even add to their luster by interacting with others; didn’t Princess Diana famously take off her white glove to shake hands with an AIDS patient? That gesture made her more human, but it also singled her out.
In the same way, female protagonists can offer a new dimension to adventure and quest novels, which is a personal connection to the people and communities they encounter. Although Susanna Quiner, the heroine I created for my quest novel, was a bit grudging when starting off on her journey (reluctance is common among heroes), I wanted to show her living with and learning from the communities she encountered. It was important to me not only that she became immersed in different cultures, but that each one gave her something she didn’t know she needed. I wanted her to be a character that developed and changed along the way—that’s the modern kind of hero or heroine. Elizabeth Bennett becomes a character who can love Mr. Darcy after family developments force her to let go of some of her own pride.
What surprised me, however, were my own prejudicial feelings that rose up every once in a while, which basically could be summed up as follows: “But a woman just wouldn’t do that then.” They wouldn’t leave the cabin, they wouldn’t embark on a journey without a man, they wouldn’t go anywhere without a gun. For some reason, the gun issue in particular plagued me. However, I was lucky that the story was set in a time when guns needed to be hand packed with powder and then lit (I still don’t get that), and if anything got wet, forget it. Since my novel takes place among rivers and swamps, in the end a gun seemed less useful than, say, a portable cooking pot.
In one account I read of the traditional hero journey, the hero:
- Is naïve and inexperienced
- Leaves home to go on a journey
- Meets monsters
- Gains allies
- Makes a stirring speech
- Engages in a contest of strength (either physical or mental)
- Attains his goal
- Returns home in disguise or unrecognized
Is there anything in this list that disqualifies a woman to be the story’s hero? Nope. Not in my mind. Not when I really think about it.
The truth is, women have done all sorts of remarkable things throughout history. My own ancestor, if my father’s stories are correct (and we come from a long line of notorious truth stretchers), was Grace O’Malley, a pirate in the 1500s who wrecked havoc on the Irish Seas. I grew up hearing that Grace O’Malley was the only person Queen Elizabeth I ever bowed to in her life. (That’s got to be false, but I love the story anyway.)
There’s also Isabella Bird, a Victorian clergyman’s daughter, who traveled over six thousand miles in the wilds of North America, sometimes with others and sometimes alone, before going to Hawaii and Japan. And Doctor James Barry—we don’t know her real name—who got herself through medical school as a man, then went off to join the British Army as a soldier and doctor, traveling in South Africa, India, and the West Indies, engaging in duels and rising in rank without anyone ever suspecting she was female.
These are women who were not afraid to leave home and face the unknown.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00035]](https://i1.wp.com/writerunboxed.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Thieving-Forest-Large-192x300.jpg?resize=192%2C300)
Instead of saying, “But a woman wouldn’t do that,” I learned to ask myself, “What would a woman do here?” Connecting with people, negotiating, trading something valuable in order to advance her cause—these are things a woman might do rather than resort to fisticuffs. Okay, sometimes there’s some fighting. But all heroes and heroines have to think outside of the box to get what they want. They need strength (both physical and mental), tenacity, and mettle.
And, to my mind at least, the ability to change. For my heroine, change came from the people she met on her journey, people she often did not even like when she first met them. But that didn’t matter. She needed to take off the white glove anyway, and make the connection.
Is your heroine unafraid to leave home and the unknown? Does she make connections?
Great post, Martha. “Connecting, negotiating, trading something valuable in order to advance her cause-” really hit the heart of how a character can change and be changed by interacting with people who don’t necessarily view the world through the same lens. The point of “people she did not even like when she first met them” reveals a great deal about an inner journey of shifting perceptions. Women, I think, are particularly adept at making nuanced shifts because of the need for personal connection. The range of ‘how’ this is accomplished is vast. A woman can be perceived as anything from manipulative to deeply compassionate and so the options for a female protagonist are endless.
Thank you for pointing out how much can be expressed with the simple removal of a glove.
Deb,
I like the connection you make between the inner journey and shifting perceptions – that hits the nail on the head, I think. When we change our mind about people, does that mean we’ve changed ourselves? I think it does.
And I totally agree that the options for female protagonists are endless!!
Cheers,
Martha
Fun post! Love the Grace O’Malley story! For me there’s always been something special about a good heroine. In historicals, their gender imposes another layer of conflict and obstacle to their goals, and it often steals much of the credit from accomplishment.
Perhaps my love of heroines also stems from the examples in my life. There’s my mom. Not only did she share books with great heroines with me as I developed a love of reading (a love she engendered in the process of sharing), she also behaved heroically during my impressionable youth, going back to work at a time when doing so raised a lot of eyebrows. In doing so, she also encouraged/forced me to develop my love of cooking. And there’s also my wife, who’s always been the brave trailblazer, a guiding light in my life. It’s no wonder my favorites in my own work are the heroines.
Best wishes to you for the new book. It appears to be right up my alley.
Vaughn,
Yay to your mom for being such a trailblazer (especially reading to her son tales with female protagonists)! My son went through a long period where he really only wanted to read about “fiesty heroines” (his words). I think it’s really important that boys and girls feel comfortable reading about heroes and heroines both.
Cheers,
Martha
Very timely post for me as I’m just writing the final chapters of a novel featuring a reclusive woman who has spent all her life in the Yukon and Alaskan bush. I spent way more time on research than I have in the previous novels in my mystery series, because I wanted to confirm the plausibility of each new situation in the plot. (Although I’ve visited the Yukon and Alaska several times, my experience with bush life there is very limited.)
Early in my research, I was fortunate to read about and meet a fellow British Columbian who amazed me with how much she accomplished as a woman creating a living for herself – alone – out of the wilderness in what is a forbidding landscape, even for a man. Her name is Chris Czajkowski and the name of her blog site (wildernessdweller.ca) is very apt. One remarkable thing is the number of women who comment on her books and her website that for the past 30 years, Chris has been living the kind of life that they have dreamed of.
Your heroine is not so farfetched after all!
Ruth
Ruth,
Congrats on writing your final chapters! Your novel sound really interesting, and I love the premise. It reminds me of that change-up to that old saying, I’ll see it when I believe it. Women living alone in the bush – definitely can be done. The interesting part is the how. And I guess that’s your novel!
Good luck with it.
Martha
Hi, Martha:
I learned most of what I know about writing not from fiction courses but from studying acting, and the three playwrights who most influenced me were Arthur Miller (who taught me how to dramatize an idea), Harold Pinter (who taught me the importance of subtext), and Tennessee Williams (who taught me the importance of character — especially women characters).
Of the three, Williams was the last to hit me with the power he deserved. I thought he was so often over the top — but then, during scene analysis, I saw how wrong I was. In particular, in studying Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Blanche Dubois in Streetcar, I saw how, beat by beat, they were indomitable in their own unique ways.
I feel the same about Mattie Ross in Charles Portis’s True Grit (which sounds like a good companion read to Thieving Forest). And if you’ve never seen The Reckless Moment starring Joan Bennett and James Mason (directed by Max Ophuls), it’s a wonderful noir where the heroine isn’t the usual femme fatale, but quite the opposite. (It was remade in 2001 as The Deep End starring Tilda Swinton and Goran Visnjic.)
I particularly like the point you make that heroines, through their capacity for connection (rather than falling into the male trap of competitive, untrusting isolation), create an excellent vehicle for exploring the various locales in a quest saga in greater depth and intimacy of detail. It’s one of those observations that seems so obvious — once someone smarter than you points it out.
BTW: We seem to be both Ohio transplants and bay area residents. Hope we cross paths sometime soon at one lit event or another.
Thanks for the great post. Made my Sunday afternoon:
David
David,
Thanks for the interesting playwriting analysis — and I totally agree. Powerful women characters are not a modern phenomenon! In 19th century lit, Anthony Trollope has about the most interesting female characters going (much more complex than Dickens’ women). I’ve not seen Reckless Moment / The Deep End but will check it out.
When Native Americans took prisoners (natives or whites) they preferred girls between the ages of 8 and 15, since they could be most easily assimilated into their tribes. I think it takes a certain kind of flexibility of spirit to be able to embrace other cultures, other ways of life. May we all have that! (Without the prisoner part, of course.)
Glad to meet another Ohio transplant.
Best,
Martha
Surely Queen Elizabeth I would have curtsied, not bowed …?!
Seriously, I completely agree, of course there can be female heroes.
Yes, women have been subject to restrictions throughout history, and in many cultures now, but just becuse there are rules, doesn’t mean no-one breaks them. Or, to put it more plainly, surely the presence of rules guarentees that someone will break them? And maybe the rules exist just because it’s only the rules that keep people from doing certain things all the time. And the sort of people who break rules make far more interesting characters than the passive ones who do what they’re told.
Maybe Elizabeth I WOULD have bowed, after all …
Hi Hilary,
I completely agree that people who break rules are far more interesting characters. And it’s funny, but I never questioned the bowing / curtseying of Queen Elizabeth of our old family lore … but you’re probably right!
Martha
Gender plays a huge role in fiction whether people want to admit it or not. I think depending on the gender, the story should unfold and run a different path. Many may think that’s a little sexist but I believe some things are better seen from certain genders especially if it’s gender specific. For example, a man can try his hardest to write about pregnancy and birth and even ask thousands of women their personal experience. However, it will never be as accurately told by a woman who gave birth (if they’re on the same level of writing skill).
Not only that, I believe certain genders have different stories to tell. One of my favorite female writers is Kate Chopin for her novel The Awakening. I loved the POV of a character who wants to break away from her social norms and just be free. It was beautiful and although a man could do the same thing, he doesn’t know the same suppression as a woman did in the 1800’s
Logan,
You’ve mentioned one of my favorite novels, The Awakening. And I agree, not everyone could have written that story. We all have certain experiences that inform who we are, and those stories can’t be told by anyone else in the same way. But that doesn’t mean we can’t burrow down deep and find an experience that can help us write a character who is a different gender, or a different social class, or from a different culture. I like to think of it a little like method acting – a male writer could tap into a time when he felt suppressed when he’s writing about the suppression of a character. It won’t be The Awakening, but it might feel genuine in its own light.
Thanks for the thought-provoking comments.
Martha
Hi Martha,
Your post really got me thinking.
I’m in the midst of writing a novel with a 12 year-old female protagonist.
And though I made the conscious decision to make the protagonist female, until reading your post, I didn’t really think most of the implications you mention and the stark contrast to say, a 12 year-old male protagonist.
Kudos to you and good luck with your book!
Liat
Thanks, Liat! Good luck with your manuscript. Contrasts are good!!
-Martha
Maybe because I don’t write in historical settings, it never occurs to me that my character can’t do certain tasks. But even if I did, I don’t think it would stop me. Women have been going against what was expected of them ever since there were expectations. Women have even hidden their identity to fight in the Civil War. A Founding Father’s wife agitated him to not forget the women (ie: give them the vote). I think of Sacajawea leading the men to California. There were even female cowboys.
Like you said, men and women can have strength and brains to battle.
Amen! You said it.
Thanks for your reply.
-Martha