The Wide Smiles
of Girls
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2009
ISBN: 9781429993388
Sisters Mae Wallace and March are two years apart, and worlds away from being anything alike. Mae Wallace is the dependable, older sister, who weighs her words before she speaks, and sees the world as a project to be saved. Charismatic March has the world on a string.
But a tragic accident tears them apart, and all of a sudden the vivacious March is incapacitated and Mae Wallace bears the guilt from the incident. Relocated to a small island-town in South Carolina where March undergoes therapy, Mae Wallace befriends a local artist who is still grieving his wife's mysterious death. As the two become closer, their mutual pain turns into a budding friendship. But Mae Wallace must free herself from guilt if she's ever to live and love again – and March must grapple with the loss of her vibrant self, and accept the new realities of her life and sisterhood.
Amazon Interview with Jennifer
Four Questions with Jennifer Manske Fenske
Where did you get the inspiration for The Wide Smiles of Girls?
A few years ago, I found myself in Pensacola, Florida, traveling across a new bridge that was next to an older bridge in the process of being dismantled. Someone had created a sign and attached it to the old bridge with the words, "Miss Your Lips Ruth." It struck me as poetic and I jotted it down in my writing notebook. Many months later, I began to imagine who painted those words. Was he lovesick? Grieving? And how did he climb up on the bridge?
Do you get along with your sister? And does she ever go horseback riding with you?
I adore my sister. She works in the magazine industry in New York, and she is about as far away from March as one could imagine. And although I am not really like Mae Wallace, I used my love for my own sister as a model for the sisters' relationship in the novel. Mae Wallace truly loves her sister, and that's why their damaged relationship bothers her so.
As for horses, that was kind of my thing growing up. I still try to ride whenever I can but I have resisted owning a horse. I simply don't have enough time to devote to the care they require.
Was it hard to write your second novel?
I seem to have this habit of making babies and publishing books at the same time. So, yes, it was difficult to write while pregnant, working and then raising my first daughter. I was half done with Wide Smiles when I found out we were expecting another child. I made it my goal to finish the book before the baby arrived. I made it, but the editing process was a lot slower this go round. For the first time in my writing life, I had to ask for more time from my editor. Lucky for me, she is extremely patient and understanding.
The hardest times were in the first trimester with my second daughter, and I had worked all day and would come home to an energetic toddler. The word "zombie-like" comes to mind. I think I fell asleep most nights at 8 p.m. There wasn't much writing being done in those days.
The actual writing was fast, as the story unspooled onto the page. I could have written an entire novel about Ruth. I really love her and Hale's relationship, but the story Mae Wallace had to tell spoke to me, too.
This is your second book that features an artist. What gives?
I am married to Jonathan Fenske, a visual artist who exhibits his paintings out of a gallery in Atlanta. (Reader note: He’s now an award-winning children’s book artist and illustrator!). Art is an important topic in our house, although Jonathan and I joke that we want our daughters to be bankers or dentists. It's hard to make a living as an artist, and we want them to have an easier life.
That being said, we talk a lot about art, architecture and writing. Jonathan is also my biggest inspiration for continuing to get up and write. My books would not exist without him, it's as simple as that.
I was thinking the other day that it would be neat if Jonathan created some of Hale's work from the novel. I would love to see what My Neighbor at the Bridge, Quick to Save looks like. I know how I imagine it in my mind, but it would be fascinating to get my husband's take on it.