LibraryThing is pleased to sit down this month with bestselling author Susan Wiggs, whose prolific body of work—including more than fifty novels—has been translated into more than twenty languages, and is available in more than thirty countries. Known for such popular series as The Lakeshore Chronicles and the Bella Vista Chronicles, and for stand-alone bestsellers like The Oysterville Sewing Circle and Family Tree, she has been described by the Salem Statesman Journal as a writer who is “one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book.” A former teacher, a Harvard graduate, and an avid hiker, she lives on an island in Washington’s Puget Sound. Wiggs sat down with Abigail this month to discuss her new novel, Wayward Girls—due out from William Morrow later this month, it is currently on offer through the Early Reviewer program—a tale of six teenage girls confined to a Catholic institution in the 1960s for being “gay, pregnant or unruly.”

Set in Buffalo, NY in 1968, Wayward Girls is described by the publisher as being based on a true story. Tell us about that story—how did you discover it, and what made you want to write about it?

I grew up in a small town in western New York, not far from Buffalo, but we moved overseas when I was a child. I never went back until 2021, when my big brother and I embarked on a journey to revisit our childhood haunts. Jon was facing a terminal diagnosis, and this bittersweet, nostalgic trip was an item on his bucket list.

When we visited the church of our youth, vivid memories of Jon as an altar boy flooded back—especially the time his sleeve caught fire from the incense thurible. You might notice a dramatized version of this incident early in the novel! (There’s a photo of Jon and me at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Olean, NY: photo here)

This moment sparked a deeper exploration into the impact of the Catholic Church in the 60s and 70s. My research led me to a forbidding stone complex at 485 Best Street in Buffalo that had once been a Magdalene Laundry—a place where “wayward girls” were sent to be “reformed” by strict nuns. Teenage girls were forced into slave labor and some delivered babies without proper medical care–babies that were sometimes stolen from them and placed for adoption. Though vaguely aware of the “laundries” in Ireland, I was shocked to learn they existed throughout the U.S. as well.

As a child, I remember more than one babysitter who “went away,” a euphemism for girls sent into hiding when they became pregnant. The more I learned, the more deeply I felt the helpless pain and rage of these young women. Their stories ignited my imagination, and Wayward Girls became one of my most personal and involving novels to date. I hope my passion for this topic touches readers’ hearts and inspires important conversations about our past treatment of young women, and–as Jodi Picoult points out–is a cautionary tale for today.

What kind of research did you need to do, while writing? Were there things you learned that surprised you, or that you found particularly disturbing or noteworthy?

Well, you won’t be surprised to know that I started at the library. The public library, of course, and I also had help from the librarian of the Buffalo History Museum. Every book I write begins with a visit to the library, and that has never varied in my 35+ years of writing fiction.

The former Good Shepherd facility in Buffalo still exists, although it’s no longer a Magdalene laundry. The atrocities committed there have been verified by accounts in scholarly and court documents, and by anecdotal evidence from former inmates. Currently there are multiple lawsuits involving the Good Shepherd, brought by individuals who suffered harm at the hands of the Catholic organizations responsible for operating them.

But as my editor pointed out in her letter to early readers, the novel is about the irrepressible spirit of women, and it’s not all doom and gloom. And in order to bring the story to life for readers, it’s a vivid snapshot of the world in 1968: the war in Vietnam, protests around diversity and women’s rights…eerily not so different from the world today. The race riot in Buffalo that was quelled in part by Jackie Robinson actually did occur. And Niagara Falls was actually “shut off” as depicted in the novel. The nuns characterized it as a “miracle,” although the real explanation is more prosaic and scientific.

Although Magdalen asylums or laundries operated throughout the Anglophone world, revelations regarding the abuses perpetrated in these institutions were particularly explosive in Ireland from the 1990s through the 2010s. Did this history inform your story, set in the states?

Like many readers, I was aware of (and horrified by) the Magdalen asylums in Ireland, thanks to news reports, books like Small Things Like These and films like The Magdalene Sisters and Philomena. There’s even a song called “The Magdalene Laundries” by Joni Mitchell. Probably the most moving and disturbing account I read during my research was Girl in the Tunnel by Maureen Sullivan.

I learned that in the United States, there were at least 38 such institutions. Women and girls, most from poor homes, were regularly sentenced to religious-run, but state-sanctioned prison systems of slave labor and abuse.

How do you approach disturbing topics in general, when writing a book? Is there anything in particular you hope readers will take away from Wayward Girls?

I’ve never shied away from dealing with controversial subjects in my books. I believe fiction can be a safe space to explore difficult realities that many people face. My approach is always to ask whether including disturbing content serves the story and characters in a meaningful way. I hope readers come away with insights about the enduring resilience of the human spirit rather than just feeling shocked.

For me as an author, the most gratifying feedback from a reader is to hear that not only were they transported and entertained, but that they gained something of lasting value from reading my book. Just last week, I received this moving note from a reader who is looking forward to Wayward Girls:

I have a personal history and I am still uncomfortable at times “coming out”, so to speak. While I am not in the book it was my experience in 197* ….At 16 I was sent to the Zoar Home for Unwed Mothers through the Catholic Diocese of Steubenville Ohio.

I look forward to your beautiful writing portraying this story and adding continued society enlightenment of the traumatic experiences and shame those of us suffered, as we are still bearing the pain while continuing to navigate this life and memories….
Thank you Susan

Well. When an author gets a note like this from a reader, she has no higher calling. I only hope this reader will feel seen by Wayward Girls.

Tell us a little bit about your writing process. Do you have a particular place or time you like to write, or a specific routine you follow? Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Thank you for this question. I love talking shop! I’ve written 50+ novels, and no matter how the world (and technology) changes, my process is always the same. I write my first draft in longhand, using a fountain pen with peacock blue ink, in a Clairefontaine or Leuchtturm 1917 grid-ruled notebook. People who are left-handed know why—it helps me avoid dragging my sleeve through the wet ink, because the fountain pen ink dries instantly.

This process keeps me away from the computer, which I find to be a delightful distraction. Writing a novel of 130,000 words requires enormous focus. Eventually, I type it up (these days by dictation) in proper manuscript format and revise it about eleven hundred seventy-seven times, and send it to my literary agent and editor for notes. Then I revise it about eight hundred more times until I’m convinced that I’ve done my very best for my readers.

Instead of “aspiring writers,” I like the term “emerging writers.” They are already writing. They are just learning and polishing their craft as their stories emerge. I wish I could say there’s a magic formula to vault you into success, but there isn’t. The first job is to define what success looks like for you, personally. A traditional commercial publisher like HarperCollins? An indie-published book? Or just the sense of accomplishment that you’ve put your heart on paper?

Once you know what you want as a writer, find the journey that will take you there. It probably won’t be easy, but what goal worth having is? For traditional publishing, you need to find a literary agent (never ever ever pay a fee to an agent!) who will place your book with a publisher.

I don’t even know what to say about AI. A novel is meant to be a personal artistic expression–the author’s unique perspective, experiences, and voice. Having AI generate text defeats the purpose of creative writing. If you want to write a novel, the struggle and growth that comes from doing it yourself is actually the point.

In terms of WHAT to write, please write the story you’re dying to tell, not the thing that’s hot in bookstores and on Booktok right now. Those books were conceived and published long ago, so by the time you jump on the bandwagon, it has already left. Make yourself happy with your writing. Reach out to a writers’ group in your community. The local library is a good place toconnect. Take a class. Write together, trade chapters, talk shop.

Writing fiction is like being the ultimate master of your own personal universe. There’s something deeply satisfying about finally having complete control over something, even if it’s just whether your protagonist gets coffee or gets hit by a bus.

It’s also the socially acceptable way to have elaborate conversations with imaginary people. You can kill off that annoying character who’s clearly based on your ex, give yourself superpowers through a thinly veiled alter ego, and resolve conflicts in ways that would never work, or win every argument with a perfectly timed witty comeback.

Plus, fiction lets you experience the rare joy of creating problems on purpose just so you can solve them. It’s like being a chaos agent and a benevolent fixer all at once. Where else can you ruin someone’s entire life in chapter three and then feel genuinely proud of yourself for it?

But I’ve strayed from the question! The answer is, READ. Read new books hot off the press. Read beloved older titles. Read the classics, the ones you thought were so boring when you were a kid in school. Because chances are, these books mean something to you now.

And at the end of the day, the very long writing day, that’s all an author can hope for—that readers were willing to spend their time reading a book filled with the deepest secrets of her heart.

Don’t shy away from your writing dreams. Tell your family/partner/friends that you have two sacred hours every day you’re going to devote to writing. And then write. WRITE.

What’s next for you? Do you have any books in the offing that you can share with us?

This is my second-favorite place to be in the writing journey. I have a blank page in front of me and I get to start something fresh!

In the meantime, there will be lots of editions of my books coming out—new paperback versions, new audiobooks, interesting new formats to explore.

Tell us about your library. What’s on your own shelves?

My library grows and changes over time. While books come and go, there are a few permanent fixtures: the first book I read (The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss), the first book I bought (Yertle the Turtle by Dr Seuss), the first book I took from the library (You Were Princess Last Time by Laura Fisher), and the first long book I read in one sitting and immediately reread (Diary of Anne Frank).

I do love my keepers, but I tend to give books away after I’ve read them. I’m always sending books I’ve loved to my reader friend and family. But I always keep the books signed by the author, because that signature makes me feel like I’m a member of an exclusive club. Although it’s bittersweet, I am especially fond of my books signed by authors who aren’t with us anymore—Madeleine L’Engle, Anne Rice, Sir Roger Bannister, Ray Bradbury, Crosby Bonsall.

What have you been reading lately, and what would you recommend to other readers?

I am on a mission to read all the books I can get my hands on by the people who read the early draft of Wayward Girls, because I know what a time commitment it is, how busy we all are, and what fantastic writers they are. So I’ve been reading books by Jodi Picoult, Adriana Trigiani, Patti Callahan Henry, Robert Dugoni, Kristina McMorris, and Shana Abé. All of these authors remind me of why I decided to write in the first place—to transport, entertain, surprise, and delight the reader.