Jenny Milchman’s ‘The Second Mother’

Julie Weathers isn’t sure if she’s running away or starting over, but moving to a remote island off the coast of Maine feels right for someone with reasons to flee her old life.

Intrigued for more? Then you best pick up a copy of Jenny Milchman’s latest novel, The Second Mother. An award-winning suspense writer from New York, Milchman made her way into publishing after her debut novel, Cover of Snow, which was acquired by Random House. It won the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and since then, readers and critics alike cannot get enough of her stories.

Milchman serves as vice president of author programming for International Thriller Writers, is a member of the Sisters in Crime Speakers Bureau, and is the founder and organizer of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, which is celebrated annually across the country. She speaks nationwide about the publishing industry, and the importance of sticking to a dream.

OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat more with Milchman about The Second Mother and her process as an author.

Hi, Jenny! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me. How are you doing during these unprecedented times?
Wow, that is a loaded question! I am privileged to say that I am doing about as well as can be. I am healthy; my loved ones are healthy, and I am just hoping that the world can be saved.

I hope so too. Now, you released your new book, The Second Mother, back in August. Without giving too much away, can you tell us more about it?
It’s about a woman who has nothing to lose because she has lost everything. She packs up her house; she drapes the furniture; she takes her big rescue dog, and she goes to live on a remote island and accepts the position of teacher in a one-room schoolhouse.How has the book been received by audiences?
I think it is a weird time for readers. On one level, readers are reading more than ever. On the other, people are not picking up books. I saw a movie the other night, and that was the first Hollywood release in so long. I don’t know if we know how to get our media these days. I am happy for magazines like OUT FRONT because they are still communicating word of what is happening in the world.

As for the book, I hear that people like it. I hear that is suspenseful, and it takes them away. There is a very troubled boy in the novel. He is an actor and performer, and my main character sort of helps bring that out in him. I heard from a reader that she cried when he first appeared on the page. Like, I do too. When I wrote it, I did too.

What do you hope readers take away from the book?
It is a story about two people, the teacher and this little boy, coming to terms with their best selves. Who they can be when their lives have kind of dissolved, and going from there. So, that is what I hope readers take away. Especially now when things can look pretty bleak. Maybe we can get up the next day again and keep walking forward. That is all we can do.

Have you always had a passion for writing?
I have. I wanted to be a writer, and my mom says I wanted to be a writer before I could write. She talks about me in the car; we would be going on a very long car trip, and she would ask what I was doing. I would say, telling a story! She would look for a book, but I wasn’t reading a book.

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Where do you primarily find your sources of inspiration?
I find inspiration anywhere. It could be standing on a subway platform, being in a supermarket line. The way my mind works, I just go, what happens if we twist the knob? Everything here that is normal goes horribly wrong. Then boom, a novel. That is what happened with The Second Mother. Like, what if you took this amazing, old-timey want ad, you are getting your fresh start in life, you move to this sweet little island, and when you got there, you saw you were in the biggest mask you could imagine? There are all these entrenched systems of privilege and wealth, and those have to be undone. So, I think the world around me gives me inspiration.

How cathartic and therapeutic is writing for you?
That is my therapy. A bookseller in Washington told me that when she reads one of my books, she feels stronger as a person. Everybody is coming into their own, and that is how I feel when I am writing them. I feel like I am getting to live the life, well, I hope I wouldn’t have to live life like that because bad stuff happens in my books, but they end on a note of triumph. So, when I am writing, I get that cathartic feeling of, I hope I never do, but if I had to be that tough, we all have a warrior inside ourselves, so I am getting down to that when I write.

The Second Mother is your fifth novel. How would you say you have evolved as a writer since your first novel to now?
That is such a good question! I have never been asked that before. I guess I do deeper into the characters. In the beginning, it was more about the action of the story. I would let the characters reveal who they are, and now, I really think about who they are and what they need from life. So, going deeper into the characters, and I sometimes try to be very meta.

Like in the novel, Peter is an actor, but sometimes I try to borrow from acting. I will think of Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, but my meta is sort of a lame version of his. For instance, in my fourth novel, the characters were lost in the wilderness and starving. I was like, it would be really helpful if I could feel what starving is like. You normally get a headache when you are starving, and that’s like nothing. I only made it about eight hours before I got so hungry, I had to eat. So, I went, like, meta light. I got hungry, but I still had my fridge.

Can we expect a sequel to The Second Mother?
All of the books have a thread through them. They are standalones, but my five books have a thread of where they are set. There is a mountainous town; it’s a community that is driven by class, wealth, who belongs, and who is an outsider. My characters are always the outsiders. I believe that thread will continue through all my novels, and I hope very much that we will get back to Mercy Island one day and see Julie and her rescue dog again, but probably not in the next book. There’s a dog in the book that I just have to go back to. He is sort of puppy-like now, and we need to see him.What more do you hope to accomplish as an author?
So much! I hope I get to go to a foreign country with my books. I hope I can reach a wider and wider audience. I love connecting with readers, so the more the better. I feel like I will have made it if I ever get to the point where I can’t write back to that reader today because I am too busy, but I will write back to them tomorrow. I never neglect a reader.

Are all your books in the genre of psychological suspense and crime fiction? Are those the genres you tend to gravitate towards?
Yes, they are all in that genre. I love writing, not who-done-it, but why-done-it. Why do the dark things happen in our life, and what control do we have over them? How can we make them better?

Before we wrap up, do you have any upcoming projects in the works we should be on the lookout for?
I am right now writing my next novel. I cannot share the title or anything about it, but fingers crossed it will be done this year!

To stay up-to-date with Milchman, follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or visit her official website, where you can sign up for contests, giveaways, and her newsletter. Milchman will always find time to connect with those who reach out. Purchase your copy of The Second Mother at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or check your local bookstore.

Photos Courtesy of Jenny Milchman