I am so excited to be interviewing Beth M. Caruso today on The Whispering Bookworm! But before we get to the interview let's check out Beth's book:
In New England, John Tinker, merchant and assistant to a renowned alchemist and eventual leader of Connecticut Colony, must come to terms with a family tragedy of dark proportions, all the while supporting his mentor’s secret quest to find the Northwest Passage, a desired trading route purported to mystically unite the East with the West.
As the lives of Marie and John become intertwined through friendship and trade, a search for justice of a Dutch woman accused of witchcraft in Hartford puts them on a collision course affecting not only their own destinies but also the fate of colonial America.
What inspired you to start writing?
I began writing seriously after I pieced together the story of Alice Young, America’s first witch-hanging victim. As a child I compiled witches’ cookbooks and wrote puppet shows for fun. Occasionally, I thought about writing historical fiction concerning the founding of my native city Cincinnati, in Ohio, but I never truly embraced the idea of something so public until the discovery of Alice’s story. Writing about the plight of someone else and the need for people to know her heart-wrenching story is what spurred me on. The end result was my first historical novel, One of Windsor: The Untold Story of America’s First Witch Hanging.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
The most challenging part of writing The Salty Rose was keeping track of the many moving parts to the story and organizing the almost infinite historical details of the English colony of New England along with the very different but adjacent Dutch colony of New Netherland. I also had to choose different voices for the parallel stories in the novel so that when they joined together, it would result in one cohesive piece.
Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
Yes, indeed. The rowdy, outspoken character of Marie du Trieux is my favorite. She's kind, but not a pushover. She's independent, yet passionate for those she loves. And, she is based on the real-life great grandmother (ninth to tenth generation) of my boys and husband. She was one of the original settlers of New Amsterdam—early New York City. I came across her in doing genealogical research and knew that she had to come to life again through the character of Marie in this novel.
If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?
That’s a really hard question and I’m no casting director! What I would say though is that I envision Marie as someone sassy and confident with dark hair and lots of energy. John Tinker has to be someone with a heart-warming smile who is good-natured and puts one at ease despite being haunted by his own private ghosts. I could see John Winthrop Jr. being played by a younger Jeremy Irons. When I hear him talk in my head, it’s Jeremy’s voice that I hear.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
There are many themes throughout this book but I think the biggest one is to acknowledge the extremely yet often invisible role of peacekeepers. Unfortunately, they are hardly ever acknowledged and remain obscured historically. We hear about wars and battles in history class but how many times, in comparison, do we ever really learn about the peacekeepers—the ones who helped us avoid destruction and loss of life? They are not as noticeable because the aftermath of the peacekeepers’ work is something more subtle but can bring prosperity, keep families together and allow for the full and meaningful development and expression of individuals, communities, and society as a whole.
Where to buy
Beth M. Caruso
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