Straight Chatting from the Library: Heather G. Marshall

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READ THE INTERVIEW

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

I read all of the Enid Blyton Famous Five and Secret Seven books—fairly typical for a girl of my generation in Scotland. I also loved James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small. I wanted to be a large-animal vet.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

When the Ocean Flies is a powerful tale of adoption, identity, and love.

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading the books of several fabulous authors who are also published by Vines Leaves Press: Study in Hysteria, by Kathleen Collins; The Angle of Flickering Light, by Gina Troisi; and A Hard Silence, by Melanie Brooks. The first is a novel and the others are memoirs. They all have strong female protagonists, great depth, and excellent storytelling.

E-Reader or print? and why?

Print. I still love the feel of a book in my hands. I love the sensory experience of reading—it’s more than just casting my eyes across a page. And I’m better able to find passages I love and want to return to. Also, if it’s a book I thoroughly enjoy, I may annotate it.

One book at a time or multiples?

I usually read no more than two books at a time—one fiction and one nonfiction. I like to be fully immersed when I’m reading and don’t want to get the stories muddled.

Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)

Both, plus sticky notes. Sorry, Librarian Judith. (I would, of course, never, ever dog-ear a library book or one belonging to someone else! I usually use a bookmark but sometimes misplace them, in which case, dog-ear or, if I have one handy, which I often do, sticky note.

Favorite place to read?

On the deck, with a steaming cup of tea, in the morning sun.

Re-reader or not?

Yes. The books I like are not just about the story; they are well crafted. There’s a joy in returning to the way the story is told—the sentences, paragraphs, scenes. It’s similar to walking a trail again and again—you’ve already taken in all the views, so you know what’s coming but there’s a joy in traversing again and noticing more details each time.

READ THE BLURB

An email from a stranger tells Alison Earley that her natural father, whom she has known for only six years, has died suddenly. What begins as a short trip back to Scotland for a funeral soon becomes a journey that puts adoption, sexuality, and identity on a collision course as Alison finds herself caught between the life and family she has so carefully constructed on one continent and the family from which she was taken on another.

Shunned by her father's family, reunited with her natural mother, and reconnected with a long-lost love, Alison finds herself trying to shepherd her youngest child towards college while questioning everything she thought she knew about herself.

When her natural mother uncovers a series of letters written to Alison from the grandmother she never knew, resurrecting stories of generations of women--stories long buried by patriarchal rule--Alison realizes that she must find the courage to face and reveal the secrets of her own past. At what cost, though? And who and what will be left in the aftermath?

When the Ocean Flies explores the pain of separation and abuse, and the power of love to heal even over huge gaps in time and geographical distance.

READ AN EXCERPT

Strange to think I’ve been walking this earth, turning face to sky, swimming in the waters for over three quarters of a century. So much has changed, and yet, so little. Women gained the right to vote just before I arrived in this life. We went out in droves to do the work our men had done while they went off to fight the Germans. And then we returned to our homes and our children, expected to return to the way things had always been. That’s what they say—it has always been that way. But I know, and you do as well, that it hasn’t always. Still, we returned to a way of life that denied women like Mary their right to claim their own child unless they had the benefit of a man’s ring on their hand.

Now, in the infancy of a new century, we find footing in a world built by the men who came before, still with much of our truth buried, fossils of the soul.

I did not fully realize how much of that I’d done to myself until after Hamish died. He was a good man. It wasn’t even conscious that I held myself in for him. I loved him. Did as I was told to do. After his death, though, I felt myself begin to unfurl. I returned to reading the cards, returned to reading the air and the sky. Began to find my voice in paint and canvas and here, on these pages.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Heather G. Marshall is an adoptee, author, speaker, teacher, coach, and traveler. Her short fiction has been published in a variety of journals, including Black Middens: New Writing Scotland, and Quarried, an anthology of the best of three decades of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel. Her first novel, The Thorn Tree, released in 2014 (MP Publishing). Her TED talk, “Letting Go of Expectations,” centers around her adoption and reunion. Her second novel, When the Ocean Flies, released in February 2024 (Vine Leaves Press). In her writing, Heather explores family, adoption, women (especially older ones), the natural environment, and how these intersect. When she isn’t writing, she likes to hike, travel, practice yoga and meditation, do a wee bit of knitting, and, of course, read. Originally from Scotland, Heather is currently based in Massachusetts.

Website: https://heathergmarshall.com
Substack: https://heathergmarshall.substack.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_g_marshall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.marshall.3956

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/when-the-ocean-flies-heather-g-marshall/20885419
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/When-Ocean-Flies-Heather-Marshall/dp/3988320455/ref=sr_1_1
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/when-the-ocean-flies/heather-g-marshall/9783988320452
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-ocean-flies-heather-g-marshall/1144381375

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