IA.MaryHigginsClark.REV.qxp_IA Template 12/2/19 1:20 PM Page 93
you’re a well-known name? If so, who / when about? An Irish story? I also liked the title Aspire to the Heavens. It was George Washington’s mother’s family motto. But it didn’t work well when I was an unknown writer. The few stores that carried the book put it in the prayer book section! That said, it was a good story. I’m so pleased it found new life and success as Mount Vernon Love Story. I don’t think I would try another historical fiction novel. Trying to write a solo book every year and collaborate with Alafair on a second book fills my writing schedule. As for an Irish story, I’ve already done that in my autobiography Kitchen Privileges.
inspiration for this latest novel: what were those questions asking in this instance? When searching for an idea for a novel I try to choose a topic that people are talking about. I knew the MeToo movement and the issues it raised would be with us for a long time. But I wanted to add a new twist to the stories that were being reported in the news. Almost any corporation would prefer to keep a MeToo situation quiet by settling with the victims. Suppose the corporation went a step further. What if the company was so desperate to keep the scandal from becoming public that women who refused to remain quiet started to die from accidents? With that thought in mind, I knew I had the idea for a story. Mount Vernon Love Story (originally Aspire to the Heavens – I love this title, personally) found a second wave of greater success after being re-released. Would you consider historical fiction again, now that
Author Mary Higgins Clark. (Courtesy Simon & Schuster)
You’ve said yourself you have “shamrocks on [your] DNA” – so do your protagonists, usually. What do you feel your Irish heritage has brought to you as an individual? Does it bring the same to those characters fortunate enough to share it? I’ve always believed the Irish were born storytellers. When I was young, if I kept quiet at the table I was able to listen while the adults discussed extended family members and people in the neighborhood: “This one is up to no good,” or, “Her late husband was barely in the ground when she remarried,” or, “The last time I saw him on the street, I knew he wouldn’t be with us much longer. He had death in his eyes.” They spoke about life’s struggles interspersed with faith and humor that would see them through. This philosophy that helped me overcome life’s challenges invariably found its way into my characters. My heroine is typically a nice young woman who does not go looking for trouble. It finds her. Her life is invaded by evil. Her strength of character and her faith in God and herself will allow her to prevail. Some of your novels have been adapted into films with stars including Nastassja Kinski, Gabrielle Anwar, Kim Cattrall, and even Carol! To what degree were you involved in the making of those films? Did you find it rewarding? Or frustrating to deal with the story changes? My involvement is rather minimal. Screenwriting is a different talent than writing novels. I pretty much leave that to the experts in that field. If they have to change something in the plot to make it work better on the screen, so be it. So far I believe the adaptations have been a mixed bag: some quite good, others really disappointing. I wish the great filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock had been around to create a movie out of one of my stories. I loved what he could do with psychological thrillers.
DECEMBER / JANUARY 2020 IRISH AMERICA 93