Her Story: Ladies In Literature is a special, month-long series on Pop! Goes The Reader in which we celebrate the literary female role models whose stories have inspired and empowered us since time immemorial. From Harriet M. Welsch to Anne Shirley, Becky Bloomwood to Hermione Granger, Her Story: Ladies In Literature is a series created for women, by women as twenty authors answer the question: “Who’s your heroine?” You can find a complete list of the participants and their scheduled guest post dates Here!
About Laura E. Weymouth
Laura Weymouth is a Canadian living in exile in America, and the sixth consecutive generation of her family to immigrate from one country to another. Born and raised in the Niagara region of Ontario, she now lives at the edge of the woods in western New York in a house that may or may not have chicken feet.
Laura’s debut YA fantasy, The Light Between Worlds, was published to critical acclaim in 2018, and her sophomore novel, A Treason of Thorns, released in September of 2019. She is represented by the inimitable Lauren Spieller of TriadaUS.
The Little Mother and Self-Isolation
No matter how you slice it, The Swiss Family Robinson is a chaotic mess of a book. There’s barely a plot! It’s a glorified instruction manual! There is Manifest Destiny! There isn’t a basic understanding of geography or biology!
But regardless of its flaws, The Swiss Family Robinson remains the quintessential cozy survival story and when my mother first read it out loud to me at the tender age of 5, I imprinted on it like a fluffy duckling. I spent significant portions of my childhood living in the persona of Fritz, the responsible, obnoxiously capable eldest brother of the family, who’s constantly being allowed out on adventures his less skilled siblings may not join in. What can I say, the firstborn energy is strong in me, and I related.
There was one character I did not relate to as a child.
For most of the book, she’s known only as The Mother. Her name, in point of fact, is Elizabeth — the long-suffering wife of a character often known only as The Father, but who later works identify as William. Elizabeth, The Mother, presides over her all-male domain with a permanent smile, forever ready to solve any problem The Father deems too feminine to be addressed by his prodigious energy and knowledge.
But you know what? Now that I’m a grown adult, I can recognize Liz Robinson’s virtues. And while I’m not living in a tropical paradise stocked with a truly unbelievable array of flora and fauna, we have all suddenly become islands. In these days of self-isolation, I relate to Elizabeth Robinson, the original isolation queen, a whole lot more.
Say what you want about The Mother, but she made the best of things in unforeseen circumstances. When faced with shipwreck, she immediately assembled a go-bag of useful items that could carry her through two weeks of no human contact and beyond. Think stretching staples from your pantry is tough? Imagine your pantry is the precarious wreck of a ruined ship, beached on a rock in shark-infested waters, and reachable only via a weird barge your husband built out of barrels. Suddenly finding yet another recipe for rice or pasta while waiting for your biweekly grocery pickup doesn’t seem as irksome a task! My girl Liz was the original isolation gardener too — literally if humans can consume it, she planted or harvested it at some point.
In outlook as well as resourcefulness, I’m trying to emulate Liz. She didn’t stress about her kids having no access to school, because life is an education. She let them run feral, and was completely cool with their growing menagerie of eccentric pets. The Father decided it would be a great idea to live up a tree, or in a cave? Liz was okay with it, as long as everyone was together and safe and healthy. In a situation where she could have been justifiably miserable, Liz counted her blessings and always did the best she could with whatever she had on hand.
On my own little pandemic island, I’m trying to channel her energy and do the same.
Find The Swiss Family Robinson on Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● The Book Depository ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Title A Treason of Thorns
Author Laura E Weymouth
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
Genre Historical Fantasy
Publication Date September 10th 2019 by HarperTeen
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● The Book Depository ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Dark, gripping, and utterly unique, this atmospheric historical fantasy from critically acclaimed author Laura E. Weymouth is perfect for fans of The Hazel Wood and Caraval.
Violet Sterling has spent the last seven years in exile, longing to return to Burleigh House. One of the six great houses of England, Burleigh’s magic kept both the countryside and Violet happy.
That is, until her father’s treason destroyed everything.
Now she’s been given a chance to return home. But Burleigh isn’t what she remembered. Wild with grief, Burleigh’s very soul is crying out in pain. As its tormented magic ravages the countryside, Vi must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her house — before her house destroys everything she’s ever known.
A house left unchecked will lead to ruin.
But I will not let it ruin me.
