Why I Write About Subversive Women
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” — Neil Gaiman, Coraline
My first novel is set in Jazz Era New York City. My second on board the last, ill-fated flight of the Hindenburg. My third amidst the Russian revolution. My fourth in the maddening haze of WWII. And, my latest, The Frozen River, in post-revolution America. They are all historical fiction based on real people and events. But that isn’t what they have in common.
I write about subversive women.
Women who conspire. Who escape. Who scheme and undermine. Who fight back. Who tell the truth. I write about women who doggedly pursue justice at great personal cost.
It’s not something I set out to do. And it took me years to recognize the trend, much less understand why I keep coming back to stories of women who defy the systems that oppress them.
The fact is that women have never been passive bystanders to history. It isn’t something that happens apart from us. But take one look at the history section in any bookstore or library and you will notice how often women are relegated to the footnotes. We become the afterthoughts. The addendums. The belated acknowledgement in a greater tribute to the king (president, husband, general, etc.)
Oh, but darling, have you even stopped to ask the trophy wife what she’s seen? Are you stunned to learn that the arm candy has a ferocious sense of humor? Or that wallflower charged with the cleaning the toilets? She could end careers. And that’s just my debut novel, The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress.
The fact is that being a woman in the world is dangerous work. For each and every one of us. Getting home safely can require a risk assessment and three forms of self protection. We all have war stories of our own. Battles that took place in boardrooms or bedrooms. It is the great contradiction of our existence: we bring life into this world, and we are perpetually vulnerable.
Every woman learns at an early age that just because you don’t live by the sword doesn’t mean you won’t die by one.
So when I find stories of women who defy the odds, who make it out, who subvert, who prevail, who find justice (poetic or otherwise), I take note. And then I take notes. I build a plot, write it down, and tell her story.
Because yes, the dragon does exist. And he’s been devouring women from the dawn of time. But if history tells us anything, it’s that he can be beaten. We only need to remember how.
- Ariel
Tell us who your favorite subversive women in literature are.
The Wife, The Maid and the Mistress is my favorite of your stories...although I love each of them. And the original cover is my favorite. When customers come into the bookstore asking for historical fiction I always ask a couple of questions BEFORE directing them. If it seems like they have a bit of spunk I put one of your books in their hands and say this IS the book you must read! ❤️ thank you for writing about subversive women and for being an author I love to champion!
Badass, as always.