Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
As you know, I have a keen interest in Women’s Fiction & Contemporary Romances – not just from the fact I host my own chat (@SatBookChat) but due to the nature of the stories themselves! I love reading dramatic fiction – of tucking into the realistic lives of women who are striving to either overcome a personal adversity or situations out of their control or simply pick up the pieces of their lives when something has gone awry. Sometimes this can be early-on in their careers, in the middle of a marriage, after a divorce or the sudden loss of a spouse – or in other instances, it is when they reach a cross-roads of their lives – where they need to make an honest choice about their futures irregardless of what others in their lives might think about their final decision(s).
This novel deals with a woman’s right to choose what is right for her in regards to her reproductive health and her overall wellness. It is a right we’ve had in our country since Roe vs Wade and it is explored through different genres as much as it is a critical journey explored by various authors of both mainstream & INSPY Women’s Fiction. Previously, I read a very heart-centred story-line about the choice and the remorse of abortion through one of the Coming Home series novels by Brenda S. Anderson which explores this through an INSPY lens of perspective. Anderson stands out for her realistic grit and her ability to tuck into hard-hitting subjects in a refreshing style that is not typical of today’s INSPY Lit but a new direction I hope continues to take hold as others like her are paving the way towards this new level of insight for INSPY readers (such as Dee Henderson, Kellie Coates Gilbert & Becky Wade for Contemporary novelists and Julie Lessman for Historical).
When I read the premise of ‘Off-Island’ I knew I wanted to read Ms Hauser’s novel to see how she approached the subject herself and how she took us through Krista’s journey.
Off-Island
by Marlene Hauser
Krista Bourne has always been surrounded by the strength, love and wealth of her family and their homes in New York City and Martha’s Vineyard. She has never had to think for herself. Living with boyfriend Michael and her elderly grandfather, she can also summon up the comforting ghosts of her beloved father and grandmother. In vivid dreams she flies with her pilot father, and when awake remembers idyllic childhood holidays spent with her bohemian grandmother.
When Krista impulsively walks out on her career as a professional dancer, it is the beginning of a new chapter in her life. She feels unsettled and excited by the sense of imminent change around her.
This feeling turns to panic, then fear when she realises that she is pregnant and is uncertain whether or not she wants to keep the baby, bringing her and Michael to a crossroads in their relationship. Adamant that she alone must deal with the situation, Krista rejects all offers of support from him, isolating her at a time when she most needs help.
Krista’s journey and emotional upheaval take her back to her summer home on Martha’s Vineyard, where she is surprised to find out that she does not know her family history quite as well as she imagined.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781789014495
Also by this author: Off-Island
on 28th September, 2018
Format: Trade Paperback
Published By: Troubador Publishing (@matadorbooks)
Formats Available: Trade Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #RealisticFiction, #WomensRights, #WomensRightToChoose + #WomensFiction
How did you approach revealing your characters honest truth and the compelling realities of facing a choice, which is still being debated in modern society as whether or not a woman has the right to choose?
Hauser responds: The “honest truth” was a slow unraveling, and it was difficult not to sugarcoat or swing to what some might consider political correctness. The “honest truth” was an amalgam of some women’s experiences, but not all. I think the main character had to stumble towards her truth and her own healing in that organic sort of way that life influences us all—primarily through other people, past and present, who love us or at least extend kindness to family and strangers alike.
How did you want to show Krista’s coming of reckoning moment where she has to also choose how she wants to heal and how she can move forward even though life wasn’t going in the direction she wanted it too?
Hauser responds: The two influential characters in Krista’s “reckoning moment” are obviously her grandmother Ilsa, especially Krista’s awareness that her grandmother, without the right to choose, had had an illegal abortion and that had influenced a sort of isolation (on-island) for the rest of her life and of the female cleric who slowly guides Krista in understanding her personal pain and the healing found in sharing that pain. Another dimension to this is Michael’s mostly relentless effort to reach her, to love her. The title “Off-Island” represents Krista’s healing—she doesn’t remain in isolation with her pain. She heals.
What was the most challenging aspect of writing Krista’s story and what touched you the most about breathing life into her character’s story?
Hauser responds: The most challenging aspect of writing Krista’s story (originally entitled “Krystal”) was bringing it to publication after it had been turned down for the following reason:
“As you know, an important factor in the decision against KRYSTAL was the question of audience. KRYSTAL couldn’t be marketed as a feminist novel because it is likely to be perceived (note that I’m saying perceived, not is) as anti-abortion. It’s kind of like PMS: there’s a strong impulse to deny its existence because it could be used as a weapon against women. So could this frank admission that abortion can be emotionally painful…”
What do you think fuelled her choice to distance herself from her boyfriend? Was it strictly due to the anxieties and fears she had conjured in her mind or was it something deeper than that?
Hauser responds: Krista had such a cocooned life that left her immature, or perhaps just an immaturity due to age. The emotional pain was so great that she fled to find her grandmother, who had really been a safe harbor for her during her lifetime—even if that just meant an empty house. So the distance was not just a running away but a running towards finding or hoping to find comfort, even if only self comfort. She was running due to the shock of the unexpected physical and emotional pain, as well as all the anxieties and fear—real or imagined—that that entails. This “wound” opened up the “wound” of having lost her beloved father. Hence, we have the shell imagery at the open and the shell with a hole knocked into it at the close of the novel.
How did you choose the setting for this story and what do you love most about Martha’s Vineyard as a setting?
Hauser responds: The setting was an easy choice. I love NYC and I love Martha’s Vineyard, and reliving the geography in the writing was pure fun! NYC of course has a buzz unlike any place else, especially for dance professionals, and Martha’s Vineyard has such natural beauty that it made Krista’s healing almost a given. That beauty gave her strength to get a grip on her pain and her future. Of course, the historic summer house was also a place of solace and reflected her grandmother’s presence.
As the back-story eludes there are hidden secrets within Krista’s life – how did you set the foundation for the reader to take this journey with Krista? What did you want the reader to feel most about the revelations, which would be coming in Krista’s life both past and present?
Hauser responds: The two important aspects of the back story would be the horrendous impact of her father’s disappearance and presumed death on her as a young child that she never dealt with and of course her grandmother’s illegal abortion. This journey is made first through Krista’s naiveté and failure to grow up—remaining immature as if that might bring her father back, and then her discovery that Ilsa had truncated her life by staying on the island with her hidden pain. These threads ultimately influenced Krista’s healing.
What is the center of focus in your next story “Juicy Fruit” and what can readers expect from “Poetry of Life”?
Hauser responds: “Juicy Fruit” is about survival against the odds in a family where the main character Lily must make critical decisions for self over others. In “Poetry of Life” the reader can expect a journey of joy—motherhood when least expected.
When your not researching and writing stories what uplifts your spirit the most?
Hauser responds: Friends and family uplift me most, and just the sheer beauty of life, of humanity—ever surprising, ever amazing. Obviously, good books, cinema, theatre and music tie it all together.
This book spotlight is courtesy of my first blog tour hosted by Faye Rogers PR:
My interview with the author, Ms Hauser was unexpectedly delayed, however, I am thankful to host an extract this afternoon ahead of sharing our conversation! This is a new author I’ve found whose writing dramatic Women’s Fiction and approaching hard-hitting topics with compassion and a depth of a character’s journey which sounds like it will pull me through the full scope of the emotional depths I’d expect it to take me as I move through the story-line. I love spotlighting the stories I want to be reading and I look forward to one day reading this in print.
15th October : Celticlady’s Reviews | 16th October: Interview @ Donna’s Book Blog |
18th October: Guest Post @ The Writing Greyhound |
19th October: Q&A @ Big Book Little Book |
22nd October: Guest Post @Luna’s Little Library | 23rd October: Spotlight w/ Extract @ Jorie Loves A Story |
24th October: Ginger Book Geek | 25th October: Spotlight w/ Extact @ Laura Morningstar |
26th October: Belleandthenovel | 27th October: Splashes into Books |
28th October: Interview @ Jorie Loves A Story Spotlight w/ Extract @ Jen Med’s Book Reviews |
Be sure to visit the rest of the blog tour! |
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Off-Island”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Marlene Hauser, the Extract from the novel and the tour host badge were provided by Faye Rogers PR and used with permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
Comments on Twitter:
#BookSpotlight w/ Extract
feat. @mhauser_author?Debut #WomensFiction
?involving #WomensRights
?Realistic Fiction and Drama about a woman at a crossroads
?an emotional extract to place you in the centre of Krista's journey#blogtour | @fayerogersuk
?https://t.co/F1pu4iMVke pic.twitter.com/EQ6rBFqUnf— Jorie Story | #amwriting?? (@joriestory) October 23, 2018
Leave a Reply