Chance Harbor (51 page)

A CONVERSATION WITH HOLLY ROBINSON

Q. Where did the inspiration come from for
Chance Harbor
?

A. Writing is a bit like cooking: sometimes ingredients come together in ways that surprise you. I love looking back at a book I’ve written and realizing how many different ingredients went into making it. The original kernel for
Chance Harbor
was a story my mom told me about one of her friends, whose mother abandoned her at a bus station when she was a child. Another important piece was my memory of a beautiful high school classmate who had an affair with one of my teachers—she was already the mother of a toddler, and seemed worlds older than I was. Both of those incidents served as key plot ingredients for this book. Then, as the novel came to a simmer, and then to a slow boil, these original components blended with other ideas and took on complex flavors of their own.

Q. Much of this novel is set in Nova Scotia and on Prince Edward Island. Why there?

A. In all of my books, settings are more than places. For instance, in one of my previous novels,
Beach Plum Island
, the setting was a barrier island that is constantly shape-shifting due to storms and erosion. That island served as a metaphor for how the characters’ lives were changing shape as family secrets were revealed and the drama unfolded. I chose to set some of
Chance Harbor
on Prince Edward Island because I divide my time between my homes there and in Massachusetts. I always feel freer to be myself on that island because it’s so remote. Likewise, Cape Breton Island—part of Nova Scotia, and a short ferry ride across the Northumberland Strait from my part of PEI—is so wild and mysterious that you feel inspired to open your mind to new ideas as you hike the mountains and view the changing sea from the forested hills and windy headlands.

Q. By now you’ve published several novels. Do you have a favorite? And has your approach to writing fiction changed since that first attempt?

A. Whatever book I have finished most recently is always my favorite, and I usually hate the manuscript I’m currently working on until the very end. That’s because, somewhere in the middle third of every book, I become convinced I will fail. I start each novel with a synopsis, so I go into the actual writing with a pretty firm idea of the plot and the outcome I’m trying to achieve. However, in some mysterious, inexplicable way, the characters begin to demand that I leave the story to
them
, for heaven’s sake, and quit trying to boss them around. I then have no choice but to watch the chaos unfold. I had no idea, for instance, that in
Chance Harbor
Eve would be an unfaithful wife and that her adultery would have such an impact on her family’s life. With every book I have to consciously make the decision to let go of having absolute control and let the magic happen on the page. That means trusting my subconscious process to take over—which is easier to do, since I have my brilliant editor, Tracy Bernstein, to help me revise whatever doesn’t work!

Q. Previously, you’ve written about women who are painters, potters, farmers, psychologists, and even a DJ. Here, Eve is a retired public relations executive and Catherine is a nurse practitioner. Why do all of your women work?

A. Because most women work, and one of the recurring themes in the lives of all women is that there isn’t enough of us to go around. We all feel fractured as we try (and often fail) to balance the demands of home, family, work, and our own physical and mental health. However, I feel, as most of the women in my novels do, that work is also a source of pride and passion and can keep us grounded during times of great stress or grief.

Q. In this novel, Catherine longs for a child, but her unreliable sister, Zoe, abandons hers, and the teen mothers Catherine sees in her practice are often too young to be prepared for parenthood. It hardly seems fair that Catherine can’t have children of her own.

A. I know. I thought about creating a plot where Catherine gets pregnant, or ends up adopting one of the infants in her pediatric practice. Then I thought, no, that wouldn’t be true to life, would it? So often, being a “good” person doesn’t necessarily mean you will be rewarded by good things happening to you. We must all learn to accept, and even embrace, our lives as they unfold. In addition, I believe that family isn’t about DNA. Your family is made up of the people who care about you, or whom you care for, whether those people are relatives, neighbors, or friends. We all have the potential to build happy families no matter how dysfunctional our families of origin might be.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Why do you think Catherine and Zoe turned out to be so different as sisters? Was it a matter of biology, the way they were raised, or other factors?

2. Eve and her husband, Andrew, are both unfaithful during the course of their marriage. Do you think they truly loved each other? Whose betrayal was greater?

3. When Russell became physically involved with his student, do you think he should have been charged with a crime? Why or why not?

4. Sexual abuse affects many of the women in this novel. How do you think her sexual history impacted Zoe? What about Willow and Nola, who both experienced abuse as children?

5. It’s never easy for the family of a substance abuser to know what steps to take to support a loved one who’s struggling with addiction. In your opinion, who do you think parented Zoe more effectively? Eve, who loved her unconditionally and continued giving her money? Or Andrew, who thought they needed to take a tough-love approach and let Zoe sink or swim? What would you have done, if Zoe were your daughter?

6. At two different points in the novel, Russell suggests that he and Catherine should live together again, if only as roommates. Would you have let Russell move back if you were in Catherine’s situation?

7. Did the novel end up the way you thought it should, or were you predicting a different resolution?

8. Do you consider this a “happy” ending?

Photo by Meg Manion

Holly Robinson
is a ghostwriter and journalist whose work appears regularly in national venues such as
Better Homes and Gardens
, Huffington Post,
More
, Open Salon, and
Parents
. She is the author of
The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter: A Memoir
and three other NAL Accent novels,
Haven Lake
,
The Wishing Hill
, and
Beach Plum Island
. She holds a BA in biology from Clark University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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