Stuff
Patricia O'Brien Revealed
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. Full and always interesting.
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. When there is no wind, row.
On Books and Writing
- Q. How did you come to write Harriet and Isabella?
- A. I thought I knew all there was to know about Harriet Beecher Stowe when I began exploring the possibility of writing about her. She was the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a book that galvanized a nation against slavery, and I was sure I had read it sometime back in school. It was one of those books that got "assigned" and so was read dutifully and then forgotten. I soon realized not only that I had never read it, I knew very little about Harriet's life - and, in particular, her amazing family. The Beechers were rock stars of the 19th century - the Kennedys of their generation: glamorous, accomplished and highly respected. But there was plenty going on behind the scenes. When Harriet's brother, Henry Ward Beecher, was put on trial for adultery, the ensuing scandal rocked the nation. Henry was the most famous preacher in America, and his trial split the Beecher family apart. Harriet was doggedly loyal, refusing to believe a word of the charges against her brother. But Isabella, the youngest of the Beecher sisters, believed Henry was guilty and that he should admit to the truth. For that, she was ostracized by the family, especially her much-loved older sister, Harriet. By now, I was hooked. This story had everything - religion, politics, race, sex, family values and even the battles of the women's movement. The facts took me only so far. What might have gone on in the hearts and minds of the Beechers, especially Harriet and Isabella, as they struggled with their painful rift and tried to find a way forward? My challenge as a novelist was to fill in what is lost in the fog of history with my imagination.
