Today, I'd like to welcome Jenny Meyerhoff to Carrie's YA Bookshelf. She'd like to share with you a little insight into Queen of Secrets, a book I love, love, loved. You can check out my review here.
I’ve heard people laugh about the fact that more often than not the kids in books are orphans. I’ve also heard the explanation that it’s because child and teen protagonists need to have autonomy in order to be the heroes and heroines of their own stories and if they had parents, the parents would likely (as in real life) step in and help them solve their problems. And I do think this is true. But for me, another reason to write about an orphaned heroine (as I did with Essie in QUEEN OF SECRETS) and the reason I’ve loved so many books with orphans as the main character (Anne of Green Gables and Harry Potter are two of my favorites) is because the parentless state is the ideal backdrop to write about the search for love.
When I say love, I don’t mean romantic love or platonic love or even parental love. Forgive me if I start to sound new age-y, but what I really mean by love is a sort of pure sense of acceptance and envelopment by the universe – ultimate love. I think on a certain level it’s a feeling we are all looking for everyday of our lives and so when we read about it, that where do I belong, who do I belong to journey resonates with almost everyone.
My main character, Essie, certainly got a lot of parental love from the grandparents who raised her, but I don’t think it always felt to her like that pure ultimate love she was craving. In the course of the book she starts to look other places, and often the wrong places for that love. I know I’ve made that mistake in my life before, and in the end I’ve started to learn that this kind of love has to start from within, so Essie’s journey really means a lot to me. Hopefully it’s something that will mean a lot to readers as well.
Thank you Jenny for stopping by. And I'm eagerly looking forward to your next book!
I agree that an orphan provides such an interesting background for a powerful character arc.
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