“There was no part of me back in high school that ever thought I could be a writer…When I headed off to university, one of the criteria I used for picking my courses was that there was no essay requirement. And I graduated without writing a single essay.”
Cathy Marie Buchanan is the first author in my “Writers on Resilience” series. She has published three historical novels: The Day the Falls Stood Still , The Painted Girls, and Daughter of Black Lake. Cathy grew up in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Day the Falls Stood Still
Cathy treasures memories of growing up among the stunning beauty of Niagara falls. She grew up hearing about William Red Hill, who rescued people from the river.
Set during WWI, The Day the Fall Stood Still is an homage to Cathy’s hometown, and it was on my Best Books for 2010 list. It’s a love story between Bess Heath, who comes from an upper-class family, and river man Tom Cole, based on William Red Hill.
Cathy’s novels have spirited, strong women who face great hardships. Her novels are also full of strong sister relationships, influenced by growing up with three sisters.
The Painted Girls is about sisters and ballet dancers Marie and Antoinette Van Goethem, models for artist/sculptor Edgar Degas. Their story intertwines with three real-life murders of the day.
“…Where we assume that ballet had always been a high-minded pursuit of privileged young girls, back in 1880s Paris, it was the downtrodden, the poor young girls who were sent to the Paris Opera Ballet School to find a better life.”
Daughter of Black Lake was #1 on my Best Books for 2020. Cathy was inspired in 2002, when she saw a photo of a well-preserved 2,000-year-old human body.
It’s the first century A.D. In a misty bog, life is simple–or so it seems. Sow. Reap. Honor Mother Earth, who will provide at harvest. A girl named Devout comes of age, envisioning a future of love and abundance. 17 years later, though, famine has brought struggle, and outsiders with foreign ways and military might have arrived. For Devout’s daughter Hobble, life is more troubled than her mother anticipated. But this girl has an extraordinary gift. As worlds collide and peril threatens, it will be up to her to save them all.
“I got curious about a society that practiced human sacrifice. But more than that, I was curious about the beauty and simplicity of a society that lived and breathed human rituals and was bound to the land in extraordinary ways.”
Readers have described the book as a perfect anecdote to our uncertain times.
“I liked the idea of being in a society that embraced magic. I love the idea of readers reading the book and the book opening a window onto seeing the magic that exists in their daily lives.”
It was a pure pleasure to interview my first writer who I admire and whose books I devour.
You can find photos of Cathy, her research, links to purchase her books, and more details about the interview on my website.