Can you tell us how you became a writer?It all started with a "Thank-You" note.
All through high school, university, and grad school I wrote in secret, keeping all of my thoughts, ideas, short stories and dreadful poetry in notebooks under by bed. My New Year’s resolution for the year 2000 (after much prodding from my partner) was to start putting my writing out into the world. So, I declared 2000 to be "the year of sending thank-you notes to people I didn’t know." My first letter led to a guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show (and that was just January!) After that whirlwind experience, I kept writing, freelance documentaries for CBC radio, a short story here and there, and eventually my first novel. I still commit random acts of writing thank-you notes from time to time… just to keep the karma flowing.
What inspired you to write this particular book? Is there a story about the writing of this novel that begs to be told?
I moved to Scots Bay, NS in 2000 (it was a big year for me). By the following spring I was pregnant with my second child. As my belly grew, the women in the community began telling me stories about the midwife who had once lived in the house that I now call home. My neighbour encouraged me to visit a woman who had grown up in my house, the daughter of the midwife. Nearly 90, and living in a nursing home, her mind and words were clear, her eyes bright. While I sat with her, she explained that her biological mother had died three days after her birth and that the midwife had adopted her (when no family could be found to take her in). She spoke of her mother’s calling as a midwife, how she cared for the women, keeping them at the house for a week or more after a birth. She then began to recite the names of all the women who had given birth in the house as well as the names of their children. I was so inspired by her stories that I decided to have a midwife assisted home birth. My son was born at home in the middle of a March snowstorm, another child in the long linage of babies born in my house. Not long after his birth, I began to make the first scribblings towards what would become The Birth House.
What is it that you’re exploring in this book?
The divide that exists between tradition and modern thought, and one woman’s struggle to find a balance between the two. It’s a very basic notion… one that lives at the heart of this story as well as in our lives today. At one point in the novel, Dr. Thomas says, "Science is neither kind nor unkind. Science is exact." Of course we all know as much as we crave concrete answers, we also crave traditions, rituals, the magic and wisdom of the past. Our lives are never exact. Sometimes it’s what we can’t explain that brings the greatest truth.
Who is your favourite character in this book and why?
As much as I love Dora and the women of the Occasional Knitters Society, I’d have to say that Miss B. is my favourite. (Although Maxine is a close second.) Marie Babineau is the embodiment of all the wisest and strongest women I’ve ever known, my mother, her grandmother, her great grandmothers, as well as a neighbour who lived down the street when I was in University. She speaks her mind, she tells the truth, and most importantly, she’s mindful of every part of her life — earth, body, and soul. I want to be like her when I grow up.
Are there any tips you would give a book club to better navigate their discussion about your book?
First, have a round (or two) of tea with mitts!
Second, close your eyes, flip through the pages, insert a finger, and read whichever passage you’ve found.
Third, more tea with mitts.
What question are you never asked but wish you were?
I think most writers ask themselves the following question on a daily basis:
Is what I’m doing important?
(Of course, most interviewers don’t ask if a writer feels their work is important, for fear of offending the writer.)
My answer to this question is: I hope so.
I think we need all forms of artistic expression more than ever. In a world with so much strife, so much inequality, artists (writers, poets, playwrights, painters, dancers etc.) Courageous art can show us our humanity, and remind us of the ways we are all connected.
My writing begins as a simple act. It’s my way of making sense of things — thoughts, scenes, conversations go down on the page. I’m always thinking of reaching out to a reader, one other person who might find my words. If at least one other person is willing to witness my art and respond to it (in whatever way causes them to feel — happiness, frustration, joy, disgust, etc.), then my art and my effort will have had some importance.
Has a review or profile ever changed your perspective on your work?
I once saw an interview with Carol Shields where she said that she always had her husband read all her reviews first. I have that same arrangement with my husband. He’s the first reader for everything I write, so he’s the first reader for reviews as well. He keeps me grounded and well stocked with chocolate.
Which authors have been most influential to your own writing?
I’m not sure if any writer has directly influenced my writing style. (That’s what reviewers figure out, right?) There are, however, many books that I have treasured reading over the years by authors such as Thomas Hardy, Carol Shields, Jane Austen, Isabel Allende, JRR Tolkien, Toni Morrison, etc. I think my work has also been largely informed by other art forms as well, paintings, films, and music. I’d cite Joni Mitchell’s songs as an equal source of inspiration as say The Stories of Eva Luna.
If you weren’t writing, what would you want to be doing for a living? What are some of your other passions in life?
I was voted by my high school class as "the girl most likely to live in a VW van." There were many times when I thought I’d wind up playing in a piano bar or travel the Renaissance fair circuit as a harpist/bard.
If you could have written one book in history, what book would that be?
There are passages in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye or in Carol Shields’ The Stone Diaries that take my breath away. At the same time, I’ve learned that there’s a lot of baggage that comes with writing a novel. I associate different scenes and sections of my work with the things that were going on in my life at the time that I wrote them. (Much like a person remembers what song was playing on the radio when they had their first kiss.) Personal events and the text of the novel, although rarely directly related, are connected by my memory. Who knows what I’d be in for if I picked say, The Great Gatsby? Careful what you wish for…