Cynthia Swanson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Bookseller, which is soon to be a motion picture starring Julia Roberts. An Indie Next selection and the winner of the 2016 WILLA Award for Historical Fiction, The Bookseller is being translated into more than a dozen languages. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award and the MPIBA Reading the West Award. Cynthia lives with her family in Denver, Colorado. Her other major interest outside of writing is home design, as she was originally an architecture major in college. Visit Cynthia at her website and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Synopsis:
In the autumn of 1960, Angie Glass is living an idyllic life in her Wisconsin hometown. At twenty-one, she’s married to charming, handsome Paul, and has just given birth to a baby boy. But one phone call changes her life forever.
When Paul’s niece, Ruby, reports that her father, Henry, has committed suicide, and that her mother, Silja, is missing, Angie and Paul drop everything and fly to the small upstate town of Stonekill, New York to be by Ruby’s side.
Angie thinks they’re coming to the rescue of Paul’s grief-stricken young niece, but Ruby is a composed and enigmatic seventeen-year-old who resists Angie’s attempts to nurture her. As Angie learns more about the complicated Glass family, staying in Henry and Silja’s eerie and ultra-modern house on the edge of the woods, she begins to question the very fabric of her own marriage.
Through Silja’s flashbacks, Angie’s discovery of astonishing truths, and Ruby’s strategic dissection of her parents’ state of affairs, a story of love, secrets, and ultimate betrayal is revealed. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
What was the inspiration behind The Glass Forest?
I thought about The Glass Forest for a long time before I started writing it – in fact, I had the idea for The Glass Forest long before I started writing my debut, The Bookseller. What I thought about was what it might be like to occupy the home of someone who had abruptly gone missing. The story grew from that seed, with the particulars coming to me over a number of years.
Do you base any of your characters on yourself or someone you know?
I personally relate to elements in each of the three main female characters. I’m fairly driven but also a romantic at heart, as is Silja. Like Angie, I’m generally optimistic and I’m fiercely loyal to those I love. Ruby has trouble fitting in until she finds the right place for her—an experience I also had as a teen and young adult.
If The Glass Forest were to become a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?
For Angie, I’d cast Emma Watson – she’d be the perfect girl-next-door type. For Silja, I would cast Reese Witherspoon – she’s so versatile and lovely, and I think she would do justice to Silja, who changes and grows over the years. For Ruby, I’d cast Morgan Saylor, who played Dana Brody, the daughter character on Homeland – she has a contemplative quality that I think would be perfect for Ruby.
For Paul and Henry, it would be difficult, since they look exactly alike. Maybe one leading man to play both roles…? Now that would be a Hollywood feat!
Where would you like to travel, and why?
South Korea – partly because of the Olympics and partly because my family has a connection to this beautiful and remarkable country. I’ve been there once, but it was a whirlwind trip and I didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked. My husband and kids want to go there, too. We talk about it a lot – we’ll see if we can make it a reality someday.
Tell us the funniest thing that has happened to you recently.
Not funny as much as charming: at a recent event for The Glass Forest, a 13-year-old boy raised his hand about five times. And he had excellent questions! He wanted to know about the writing process and what inspires my work. Our exchanges were the highlight of my evening.
Which TV show were you too young to appreciate in the past, but would totally watch if it were around now?
Perry Mason, so I could be an amateur sleuth like some of my characters are!
Thanks to Cynthia for chatting with us and for sharing her book with our readers.
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19 comments:
It's not really, funny, more like stupid. Lately I have been confused and the wrong words coming out of my mouth.
We bought new furniture a few weeks ago. On the day it was to be delivered, it was suppose to be raining. I was thinking ahead and called to postpone and arrange another delivery date. Later in the day the furniture company called trying to get things straight as I had apparently called the other furniture company in town which had no record of a sale or delivery so they had called my furniture store to let them know. What a mess!
I think I would love to revisit The Jackie Gleason Show. I was'nt even born yet.
I was looking all over the house for the keys to my car yelling at the hubby since he had them last. As i was yelling at him he told me check your hand. Thats where the key was. I told him he magically put it there because I would have known the key was in my hand. We both laughed at my blondness. Thank you for the chance.
My oldest grandson who is 6 says the funniest, cutest and special things when we are driving home from school. He said that in PE they did yoga. He said that women do it because they are stressed.
My Grandson who is 8 is always coming up with knock, knock jokes for me, he is hilarious. Thanks for this great chance & the book sounds like a real thriller.
My life is like an episode of Seinfeld! I know this person who is exactly like George Costanza...makes me laugh all the time.
I get daily laughs with my grandson four days a week. He's always saying something that makes me chuckle. His endearing reference to my husband is pawa. He hasn't quite got grandpa down. I think I have heard him saying grandpa a few times, but he much prefers to call him pawa.
My cats make me laugh everyday. Today Jefferson was sleeping on my bed taking his morning nap and I laid down next to him and he started to groom my hair. While grooming my hair he was also pulling my hair and he wasn't gentle about it either.
It was funny to sing The Wheels on the Bus with my 2 year old nephew - at least the first 50 times were fun.
I think that if Gunsmoke was on tv now I would probably enjoy watching it. It was a show that my parents really liked.
Thanks for sharing The Glass forest , I had to laugh at our poor cat tonight as it has finally stopped raining after 3 days and he ventured outside , trying to find a dry place with no water lying to keep his feet dry, very difficult as the water is right around our house . He entertained himself yesterday by spinning around chasing his tail , great fun.
I raced out to take the wash off the line because of the rain. I had just stepped inside when the sun came out. So back to the line I went.
I love watching my daughter’s dog do this little hop when he’s super excited. I crack up every time.
We were playing Yahtzee at a table. Our cat got up on a chair and put her front paws on the table. When we handed her a dice she pushed it back us with her paws. She did this several times and she was so cute!
can't think of anything
"What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?" Nothing funny ever happens to me!
My best friend and I realized that we bought the same shirt from the same store on different days!
The funniest thing that happened to me lately. I drove to go to physical therapy to find out that my appt. wasn't until the next day. I wrote it down wrong on my calendar! They got a good laugh out of it though.
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