THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO
by Mary Hogan
Available now from William Morrow at
From the author of the critically-acclaimed Two
Sisters comes THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO, a compulsively-readable
historical novel of two young women--one America’s Gilded Age, one in
scrappy modern-day California--whose lives are linked by a single tragic
afternoon in history.
1888: Elizabeth
Haberlin, of the Pittsburgh Haberlins, spends every summer with her family on a
beautiful lake in an exclusive club. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains above
the working class community of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the private retreat is
patronized by society’s elite. Elizabeth summers with Carnegies, Mellons, and
Fricks, following the rigid etiquette of her class. But Elizabeth is blessed
(cursed) with a mind of her own. Case in point: her friendship with Eugene
Eggar, a Johnstown steel mill worker. And when Elizabeth discovers that the
club’s poorly maintained dam is about to burst and send 20 million tons of water
careening down the mountain, she risks all to warn Eugene and the townspeople
in the lake’s deadly shadow.
Present day: On her
eighteenth birthday, genetic information from Lee Parker’s closed adoption is
unlocked. She also sees an old photograph of a genetic relative-a 19th Century
woman with hair and eyes likes hers-standing in a pile of rubble from an
ecological disaster next to none other than Clara Barton, the founder of the
American Red Cross. Determined to identify the woman in the photo and unearth
the mystery of that captured moment, Lee digs into history. Her journey takes
her from California to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from her present financial woes
to her past of privilege, from the daily grind to an epic disaster. Once Lee’s
heroic DNA is revealed, will she decide to forge a new fate?
Q & A with Mary Hogan, author of
THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO...
What’s the story behind THE WOMAN IN THE
PHOTO? How did the book come to be?
I first had the idea for this book 24
years ago! I’m not kidding. In 1992, my husband, actor Robert Hogan, was in an
off-Broadway play called On the Bum, also starring Cynthia Nixon and
Campbell Scott. The play was set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, several years
after the epic flood. The characters talked about a “lake in the sky” which
piqued my curiosity. A few days later, I went to the library to read about such
strange geography. That’s when I read the real story of the Johnstown disaster. Wow. I
was blown away. What a great story! I held my breath for 24 years worrying that
someone would write my book before I got a chance to. There are other books out
there about the flood, but nothing like mine.
How did you conduct your research for the
book? Are any of the characters in the book inspired by real-life people?
While on book tour in Pittsburgh for my
first young adult novel, THE SERIOUS KISS, I had a free afternoon. So, I
rented a car and drove two hours to Johnstown to see it for myself. I could
have stayed there for two weeks. There was so much of interest for this
Californian girl. Over the years, I would visit twice more. Generously, the
President of the Johnstown Heritage Association gave me a day-long tour of
everything I needed to tell a compelling tale, including access to the inside
of the private Clubhouse which is still standing! Aside from the very real
members of the exclusive club: steel titans Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay
Frick, bankers like Andrew Mellon, U.S. Senator and Attorney General Philander
Knox, all the characters are fiction.
How was the writing experience for THE WOMAN IN
THE PHOTO different from your experience writing your previous novel, TWO
SISTERS?
TWO SISTERS was a process of opening
up my heart and spilling its contents onto the page. Inspired by the early
death of my older sister, I told a tale of family secrets that I knew all too
well. Writing THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO was a completely different
experience. First, I read a gazillion historical novels. Then, I read every
book I could find about Johnstown. I even read a novel called, ANNIE KILBURN that was written in 1889 to get a feel for the language
of the day. Research, research, research. I was told that women who read
historical fiction are fiends about accurate detail. So, my biggest fear about
creating a main character who was an upper class woman of the nineteenth
century was getting her many corsets right.
Both THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO and TWO SISTERS
center around female relationships. Why do you think readers are so
fascinated by the bonds between female family members?
Ah, yes. Those bonds are complicated,
indeed. I have yet to meet a woman who didn’t have a knotty relationship with
her sister or her mother. Even when they are smooth, they are bumpy. In my
case, my mother and I were very much alike, and my sister and I were very
different. So there were a lot of crossed wires. We hurt each other even when
we didn’t know it. My dad and my brothers sort of kept their heads down and
watched sports. :-)
For me, the best characters are flawed,
striving, loving, selfish, feeling, reacting, deep, curious, furious, and
worried—mostly—about their hair. In other words: women.
Is there a particular message you hope readers
will take away from THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO?
One of the themes of this novel is: Is
DNA your destiny? Are you born to be who you are? Or, can life itself mold you?
I would love for readers to finish THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO with the
sense that we are all on this earth to be kind to one another. To live together.
Even on bad hair days.
***My thanks to the folks at William Morrow for permitting me to share this interesting Q & A with the author with my readers, and to Ms. Hogan for allowing us a peek into the inspiration behind the story and the mind of the author - thank you, Mary.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nappa
Award-winning author of seven Young Adult novels, Mary Hogan’s first adult novel, TWO
SISTERS, tells the gripping, emotional story of a family, sisters and secrets.
Mary lives in New York City with her husband Bob and their dog, Lucy.
PRAISE for THE WOMAN IN
THE PHOTO:
“Mary
Hogan expertly uses the tragic story of the Johnstown Food as background for a
fascinating tale of two women, generations apart, who defy expectations to find
their own paths to happiness and purpose. Awash in historical detail, this book
is a real page-turner.”
—Melanie Benjamin, New York Times Best
Selling author of THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE and THE AVIATOR’S WIFE
“A fascinating snapshot of two women separated by time—each compelling in her
own right - who together make for a novel so appealing you can’t stop reading.
Well-researched history and modern intrigue, original and heartfelt....a
thoroughly captivating novel”
—New York Times Bestselling
author, MJ Rose
“Mary Hogan tells a wonderful story of two young women coming into their own…A
beautiful work of historical fiction that pulls you into a distant time and
place and makes it feel like home. Hogan does a brilliant job at weaving their
two stories together to make one fabulous novel about growing up and
discovering who you are in more ways than one.”
—NY Daily News
“…An
excellent piece of historical fiction…” —Library
Journal
“A
great historical selection…with relatable and charming characters and an
interesting historical event” —Booklist
***Having been to Johnstown, Pennsylvania and seen the monuments and tributes to those who lost their lives that fateful time in history, and for someone like me who has seen her face reflected back in old pictures of relatives generations long gone, this sounds like an exciting and intriguing read. I hope to fit it into my reading schedule soon and bring you my thoughts. - Amy
Happy Reading Everyone!
Lauren
Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty novels,
including The Summer Country, The Ashford Affair, and The English Wife, as well
as the RITA Award-winning Pink Carnation series. An alumna of Yale University,
she has a graduate degree in history from Harvard and a JD from Harvard Law
School. She lives in New York City with her husband, kindergartner, toddler,
and vast quantities of coffee.
