Author Julie Gilbert Discusses the Writing of Her New Book ‘Giant Love’
Julie Gilbert Today, we delve into the enduring relevance of the themes explored by Pulitzer Prize -winning author Edna Ferber
I have a long and complicated relationship with superstitions. Being raised in an Italian family means you’re schooled early and often in the myriad ways to avoid bad luck, or worse. Never put a hat on a bed, always leave from the same door you entered, do not even think about passing a baby over a table or decorating your house with the hint of an image of an owl. As a child these rules were mysterious, as a teen they became annoying. I wanted control over my life and luck. But all that mysteriously shifted when I started planning my wedding. I suddenly found myself following every single ancestral omen . Including peonies in my decor for prosperity and wearing something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue felt like the least I could do to put myself in good favor with the gods of marriage. Since my wedding one-eighty, I’ve been fascinated by how superstitions show up in our cultures and what purpose they truly serve. Are they rules we follow to honor our heritage? Or are they personal pathways to a feeling of control? I wanted to explore all these question and more in my novel The Heirloom . My heroine Shea’s own Italian family gifted her the superstition that engagement rings carry the karma from all the marriages in which they’ve been worn (yes, mine believes the same). After her beloved boyfriend proposes with a vintage ring, Shea’s belief becomes so consuming that she journeys around the world to uncover every prior owner of her 1920s bauble. The plot engine is her search to learn whether her ring will pass along happily ever after energy into her own marriage. But the deeper story becomes Shea realizing that her belief may be a mask for real and reasonable fears around committing to forever . In my novel the superstition is a way to ask much bigger questions about life and love. These six books do the same, exploring the topic from every angle. In some an omen defines the character’s struggle, in others its used […]
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Julie Gilbert Today, we delve into the enduring relevance of the themes explored by Pulitzer Prize -winning author Edna Ferber
The Mallorcan Joana Marcús is a young bestseller in Spain and America, writer of young adult novels with a romantic
