'The Bitch Posse' Review and some Author Blarney

"But something about Scotty being late tonight forces an ancient, visceral female anger through her, one she hasn't felt for a long, long time."

That's a perfect line and any novel containing a sentence like that near its beginning is something I definitely want to read, and I did, and Martha O'Connor's sizzling first novel does not disappoint. Here's a link to the book if you want to check it out.
The Bitch Posse

The story is dark and compelling and covers a three month period in both 1988 and 2003, the former when the three protagonists Rennie, Cherry and Amy are in high school, the latter when they're in their thirties, and scenes play out in California, Illinois and Michigan. In 1988, the girls--at times achingly vulnerable, at other times exploitative and brazen, all of them from families that are dysfunctional in one way or another--have formed a close friendship that results in the formation of The Bitch Posse, and teenage angst, experimentation with alcohol, drugs and cutting, a liaision with a teacher, and a death are encountered between the covers.

By 2003, the girls have entered womanhood with their friendship severed but The Bitch Posse still discomfitingly alive in all of their minds: Rennie is a Stanford graduate and has become a moderately successful writer, Amy is a mother and has a marriage that's in trouble, and Cherry is in a psychiatric institution with the dual objectives of protecting a fellow patient whom she has befriended and getting out into the world again. With unflinching honesty and acute detail, O'Connor takes us skating deep into the labyrinths of her characters minds--so much so that, on more than one occasion, we seem to no longer be passive readers, but have actually become part of the character's living, breathing bodies.

Particularly interesting (at least for me, but then my interest would be piqued since I'm originally from that side of the pond and she was the one member of the Royal family whom I did have time for, despite an overall natural and healthy Irish aversion to most things Windsor) was Cherry's frequent allusions to her heroine, the late Princess of Wales. It was doubly interesting because, with each reference, came the expected comparison between Diana and Cherry's painful circumstances in addition to--though this point may be missed by an American readership--a reminder that familial dysfunction keeps no class boundaries.

In prose that's as taut as the novel is full of suspense, The Bitch Posse is a roller-coaster of a read right up to its climax, and I enjoyed the trip immensely.

Author Blarney

Martha, thanks for dropping by my blog to answer a few questions while we drink a few glasses of cyber twelve-year-old Irish whisky. I wonder...are blogs like the telly? I mean, are we allowed to be seen or heard drinking cyber Irish on a blog?

You're welcome and...I don't know, but let's do it anyway.

DMN: Though I found Cherry, Amy and Rennie alternately strong and vulnerable, I found myself identifying most with Rennie. I'm not sure if that's because I thought her vulnerability the most poignant in that she attempts to 'lose' her pain and self-hatred by having lots of sexual encounters, or if it was because she is a fellow writer, or some combination of the two. As the creator of these characters, is there one you relate to most and, if so, can you tell us what draws you most to the person?

MOC: There are pieces of me in each girl. Lately I have found myself more able to relate to Amy because she's a mother of a child in serious medical trouble, and just under a year ago my son was in serious medical trouble, in diabetic ketoacidosis and near coma from undiagnosed juvenile diabetes. Obviously, I had no idea this was going to happen when I wrote about Amy. Cherry's someone who likes to look after other people, and that's me too. I'm always worrying about how others are doing... like a lot of women I know! And the similarities with Rennie are obvious... we're both writers, both live in Marin, both teachers (I taught eighth grade). But I hope I'm not as dysfunctional as she is! (The parents of my former students also hope so....)

DMN: The novel covers a three month period in both 1988 and 2003, the former period dealing with the girls when they're in high school and the latter when they're in their thirties, and the scenes play out in California, Illinois and Michigan. I've found some books with alternating time periods jerky and distracting, yet your story moves forward very fluidly and effortlessly. Did you struggle atoll (Irish for 'at all') over the novel's framework and was it difficult to achieve the correct balance?

MOC: When I wrote this novel, I could only "see" a chapter or so ahead of where I was at that particular time. But I didn't find it difficult to keep track of at all. I didn't keep a timeline, graph, chart, or anything like that. I hate to sound mystical, but the book just came to me. It was delivered to me as a complete package, just about. That's never happened to me with a book before! (This is my fifth book; I have four unpublished manuscripts in the basement).

I wrote The Bitch Posse straight through from page 1 to page 339, except for the last six chapters. Those scenes were so emotionally intense that I kept getting confused over what was happening when.

DMN: Imagery is an important element of your writing style and I loved the references to butterflies and deer on a number of occasions. Can you speak to your use of imagery in the novel?

MOC: That is very observant and I'm so glad you brought that up. The butterflies are in homage to my hero, Vladimir Nabokov. Of course, Nabokov loved butterflies and was a renowned lepidopterist. He was the butterfly collector at Harvard University. Nabokov, the genius, also delighted in their imagery...Lolita's nickname, Dolly, is "chrysalis" in Greek. And in his honor dozens of butterflies have been named for Nabokov and his characters.

My deer imagery is less glamorous, I'm afraid. I simply like deer and I see them as majestic yet truly weak in so many ways. A simple headlight can blind them. The deer reminds me of Diana, Princess of Wales. Absolutely stunning, noble and majestic, but so vulnerable underneath it all. My girls are the same.

DMN: In an Author2Author interview on the literary blog, Beatrice, the characters in your novel are described as being on 'the darker side of chick-lit.' I read and enjoy chick lit, but I was surprised at this comparison because I view your novel as literary fiction. Indeed, the very funny "Consumer Product Information" contained in the opening pages of THE BITCH POSSE states one is entering a 'Chick-Lit-Free Zone.' Could you share your thoughts about where you feel your novel is positioned?

MOC: I think people who see my novel as chick lit are confused. If they ere to read this looking for a dark chick lit novel, the contents of the novel would throw them for a loop. In some marketing pieces and ads, the novel has been presented as "anti-chick lit," but I like to think 'The Bitch Posse' is much more than NOT something. But you know, these marketing people have to have some hook or another. Mainly, I see my novel as dark fiction, sharing a camp with authors like Mary Gaitskill and AM Homes.

DMN: At its core, the novel is about three teenage girls from dysfunctional homes in the American heartland who form a tremendously close friendship and the narrative touches on raw and serious subject matter including alcohol and drug abuse and cutting. Moreover, the girls intend their friendship to last a lifetime, but an event occurs which sends each girl into womanhood following a very different path. I was astonished by how dextrously you conveyed each girl's character, by how you transported us deep into the viscera of each character's psyche so that we in effect inhabited their skins. Did this involve a great deal of research, and at any time in your life did you work with girls such as your heroines?

Ummmm... yes, I did, when I was between the ages of 14-19! (Though I'm not sure how helpful I was!) Seriously, though, I had a very rebellious adolescence and many of these events were not too far off the mark for myself and girls I hung out with.

I did do a lot of research, however, into the phenomenon of self-injury. The site Secret Shame (I was unable to get this to link from my blog so here's the URL http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html) was invaluable, and I would also recommend it as a support for people who are struggling with self-injury.

DMN: What do you hope readers will take from your novel after they've finished the book and sit back and reflect?

MOC: I hope the characters will stay with them and that they'll think about the novel...that it won't be a quick read, easily forgotten.

DMN: As with me, this is your first novel and you are now out doing readings at bookstores, etc. Tell me a little about how you are finding this experience and share a story or two that stand out in your mind.

MOC: I used to teach middle school and there's no tougher audience than a roomful of eighth graders! So getting up in front of a crowd hasn't been a problem at all.

In Los Angeles, someone began talking to me, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out who this person was. I immediately realized I SHOULD know who she was, that I had in all likelihood met her before and had probably had a lengthy conversation with her as well, had probably even emailed with her and maybe even talked on the phone, shit, who the hell WAS she??? Maybe someone from high school? I was just so hyped up that my brain wasn't working. Meanwhile we were both chattering away at each other. Finally, I had to stop and ask her who she was. It was SO embarrassing. It turned out to be Gayle Brandeis, who is a wonderful writer who blurbed my book, and with whom I had had lunch in San Francisco a few months before! I felt so stupid. Fortunately Gayle understood.

Another interesting thing was that in San Francisco I got to meet a writer I really admire, Stephen Elliott. Steve has been very nice to me and even donated some signed books for an auction to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I invited him to my reading, and he showed up for it! He is just as nice in person as he is via email. A class act all around.

DMN: I'd like to switch gears for my last question because we have other roles in addition to being a writer. You are also the mother of a child with juvenile diabetes and you talk about this on your blog. Would you like to speak about this disease and tell us what new developments or potential cures are on the horizon?

MOC: Juvenile diabetes (Type 1 Diabetes) is a devastating and currently incurable disease that affects millions of children and adults. It is the #1 cause of adult blindness and nontraumatic amputations, and is a leading cause of stroke, kidney failure, heart disease, and numerous other problems. On average, the lifespan of someone with this disease is shortened by fifteen years.

Just to stay alive, people with Type 1 Diabetes require frequent blood sugar testing (my son tests his blood sugar 8-10 times per day) and numerous daily insulin injections (my son takes 4-5). By the time he is 18, he will have pricked his finger for a blood test approximately 40,150 times and will have given himself approximately 20,075 insulin injections.

While insulin keeps my son alive, it is not a cure. I believe that a cure will be found via embryonic stem cell research. Here is an excellent article at the Joslin Diabetes Center, explaining why embryonic stem cell research is much more promising than either the pancreas transplant or adult stem cell research. There are far fewer pancreata than diabetes patients, AND, transplants require a lifetime of cancer-causing immunosuppresant drugs. These transplants only make sense for those with end-stage renal complications who are already getting a kidney transplant. As well, here is a direct quote from the Joslin article: "In general, adult stem cells from most tissues do not exhibit the same potential to differentiate and grow as embryonic stem cells, and thus far no adult pancreatic or islet stem cells have been obtained."

My son goes to the UCSF Diabetes Center, which employs many of the most brilliant doctors and researchers in the world. Since San Francisco has been selected as the capital for the California Stem Cell Institute, it makes sense to donate to the UCSF Diabetes Center if you support this research. To contribute to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which funds all types of research, you may visit Diabetes donations
(Money also goes to clinical and education programs)

To join the fight to bring stem cell research to the forefront,visit Stempac. There you can also write letters to your Senators and read personal stories of those whose lives could be improved or saved with stem cell research. You can contribute your own story as well, steal an ad for your blog as I have done, or join the Google Hit Squad. The millions suffering with chronic lifethreatening diseases deserve the benefits of this promising research.

Thank you so much, Damian, for giving me the forum to talk about it here.

You can learn more about Martha by visiting her blog and website.

[technorati: The Bitch Posse, Martha O'Connor, Juvenile diabetes, Stem Cell Research,cutting]