Interview with Molly Greeley - Author of Marvelous
Interview with Molly Greeley - Author of Marvelous
"In MARVELOUS, Greeley bridges four hundred years and our own image-obsessed time with beautiful humanity, moving philosophy and spellbinding prose.
MARVELOUS proves how love is always what truly binds and saves us in the end."
Natalie Jenner, bestselling author of Bloomsbury Girls
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About the author:
Though Molly Greeley earned a degree in English from Michigan State University, she spent a number of years working in cafes, law offices, and for insurance newspapers before finding the courage to write her first novel. Her work has been called "Intricate, masterly, and delightfully imaginative" (Library Journal), "Exquisite" (Austenesque Reviews), and "Nuanced" with a "hint of D.H. Lawrence" (BBC Culture). Her books have been Indie Next picks and have received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.
She lives in northern Michigan with her husband and three children, and can often be found with her laptop at local coffee shops. Her three novels are: The Clergyman’s Wife, The Heiress and Marvelous. Visit her website for more information.
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INTERVIEW
What inspired you to write Marvelous? Please provide an overview of the story.
Marvelous is the true story of the couple who might have inspired the fairy tale “The Beauty and the Beast”: Pedro Gonzales, a man born covered in hair from head to foot, and his wife, Catherine Raffelin. Pedro was brought, in a cage, to the French Renaissance court of Henri II when he was a little boy; when he was grown he was married, at the queen’s command, to Catherine, the beautiful daughter of a merchant (it was likely the queen’s hope to breed more hairy people just like Pedro; if so, her hope was realized many times over, for Catherine and Pedro had at least seven children together, most whom were born with hypertrichosis like their father).
Marvelous happened because I stumbled upon Pedro and Catherine’s story entirely by chance while chasing down a stray fact during edits for my second novel, The Heiress. It was there in my Google search results–a site promising to divulge the true story behind “Beauty and the Beast.” I clicked, fell down the proverbial rabbit hole, and emerged later knowing I had to write this story.
Please comment further on Aristotle’s quote: ‘In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.'
I chose this quote as the epigraph for Marvelous because it felt true on multiple levels. In one sense, Aristotle’s quote functions very literally here: Pedro and his children were considered human marvels–unusual people who were kept at royal courts purely because of their physical differences. They were living examples of how extraordinary the diversity of nature can be.
But it is not merely the Gonzales family’s unusual appearances that made them marvelous; it was their resilience, their fortitude, their determination to find a real place for themselves in a world that would keep them caged. And, too, Pedro and Catherine’s relationship contains something of the marvelous as well–a love that sprung from difficult ground, and which endured despite the odds.
Did the writing of Marvelous require much research? What resources did you use? List two facts you discovered that truly surprised you?
I had to brush up on my knowledge of the French Wars of Religion, as well as on French Renaissance court life, and for these I found the books of Robert J. Knecht absolutely invaluable. I also did extensive research into what is known about Pedro’s life–there are several excellent papers on the subject of court “marvels,” references to him in the French National Archives, as well as a book by Merry Weisner-Hanks about Pedro and his children (with a focus on his daughters). The only true biography of Pedro I could find is in Italian, but thank goodness for translation apps–it was a slow process to read that way, but well worth it in the end.
Two things that surprised me:
Pedro’s son Henri used the excuse of his own and his family’s hairiness (which was
equated with wildness at the time) to persuade their current patron, the Duke of Parma, to allow them to move away from court and into the countryside, citing their need to be close to nature.
Although there is a record of Pedro being brought to the French court–a foreign dignitary described the little hairy boy extensively–there is no mention of who brought him.
What is the main theme of Marvelous?
I’d say that true love and acceptance–from others, but also from ourselves–is what matters most in the end.
Who is your favourite villain in Mavelous? And what qualities does he/she possess? Ludovico Gonzaga is without a doubt my favorite villain in the book. He is more than just problematic–he was likely at least partially responsible for the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, a slaughter of Protestants by Catholics in Paris that sparked a further wave of killings throughout France, resulting in thousands of deaths. But, in Marvelous, he is also Pedro’s closest friend and confidant, and, most importantly, the first person who not only accepts but likes Pedro as he is. He’s a political maneuverer, and a loyal friend. He’s dangerous in his aspirations–not someone you’d want to cross–and fiercely devoted to those he loves. He’s a murderer, and a lover. He’s full of contradictions, like all of us, only he is perhaps more willing to embrace his darker side than most of us.
Describe Pedro and his wife Catherine in three words each.
Pedro: proud, insecure, intelligent
Catherine: strong, open-minded, brave
Was the writing/editing process of Marvelous a lengthy or difficult one? Did it go through many changes from its original inception to its last form?
I honestly lost track of the number of drafts I went through before finally sending it off to my editor. The structure of book changed completely over time–and I found myself making major changes even during copy edits, adding entirely new, lengthy scenes and switching up the timeline.
Did you take any pilgrimages to help with the creation/writing of Marvelous?
I so wish I’d been able to! Unfortunately, I began my research just as Covid hit the US, which meant no traveling was possible. I had to rely on maps, photographs, videos, and descriptions of my settings. Someday, a dream of mine would be to take the trip I wish I had been able to take during research–to travel in Pedro’s footsteps from Tenerife to the palaces of France, to Switzerland and Rome and onward to the village of Capodimonte where they ultimately settled.
Which current Beauty and the Beast fairy-tale movie is your favourite and why?
I will always love the original Disney animated film (I have a little less love for the newer, live-action version, though I appreciate some of what they were trying to do with it). The animated film, though, was my very favorite movie as a child. But I also love Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête, with its tortured soul of a beast and its deliciously creepy castle (the living arms holding the candles on the walls send shivers down my spine whenever I see them!)
If your novel was turned into a movie, which actress and actor would you want to see play Catherine and Pedro?
I think Florence Pugh would make a wonderful Catherine–she has that fierceness that Catherine comes to find in herself over the course of the book. Pedro is harder for me to cast, but I do think Jim Sturgess would be great–emotional range, and those eyes that remind me of Pedro’s from his portrait.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve been a passionate reader for as long as I can remember. I was one of those kids who brought a book with her everywhere. I wrote my first story when I was six or seven, and I still remember how thrilling it was to realize I could put my thoughts down on paper, too. But it wasn’t until around fifth grade that I began, in a secret place in my head, to imagine myself truly being a writer. I’d begun scribbling stories on the backs of my worksheets at school whenever I finished my work early. Where I used to never be without a book, now I was never without a paper and pencil.
Share your publishing journey. And the names of the books you have published?
I wrote my first novel in 2017, when I was pregnant with my third child. I’d spent years writing only for myself, psyching myself out whenever I thought of actually writing an entire novel. But I finished The Clergyman’s Wife in about a year of once-weekly writing sprints and began querying a couple of months after my son was born. I got an agent–the fabulous Jennifer Weltz, who was actually the very first agent I queried (though there were several months, many rejections, and a reworking of my book in between the time I queried her and the time she offered to represent me). We signed with William Morrow shortly thereafter, and Morrow has published my second novel, The Heiress, as well as Marvelous.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing? Any habits, quirks, favourite foods or physical activities to stir up the imagination?
Prior to Covid, while working on my second novel, I had the unprecedented luxury of actual, sustained writing time during the week. But once Covid and all its attendant restrictions hit, it became clear that my oldest two kids did not do well with virtual school, so we chose to homeschool, and somehow ended up continuing for longer than I ever expected. Right now we’re in our third–and almost certainly final–year of homeschooling, so my mornings are devoted to driving my youngest to preschool and teaching my second and fifth graders. In the afternoons, when the stars align, I have a couple of hours to write, but I also have a part-time job with a local business that sometimes has to take precedence. Weekends, I generally have one day that I devote to writing.
As far as quirks... I always have dark chocolate with me when I write, and I always start the day with coffee to burn away the fog of both sleep and all the everyday concerns that try to take up my brainspace. I make a playlist for each book I work on, and when I need to totally shut out the rest of the world I use headphones and have the songs on repeat.
List your top four reads from the last six months that you would recommend?
I was riveted by Barbara Kingsolver’s latest, Demon Copperhead. Katherine Chen’s Joan stole my heart. I recently re-read Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Bayard, and it was just as soul-filling and heart-wrenching on the second read as it was on the first. And right now I’m lucky enough to be reading Allison Epstein’s forthcoming second novel, Let the Dead Bury the Dead, ahead of publication, and I am absolutely loving it.
Since you are a Historical Fiction writer, name one person you would invite from the past to dinner? What meal would you cook for them and what questions would you ask him or her?
Catherine de’ Medici looms large in the background of MARVELOUS. She is also a very controversial historical figure: by some, she is believed to be the ruthless queen who kept secret cabinets full of poison in order to do away with her enemies; by others, she is the woman who was unfairly maligned by history, condemned to be remembered as terrible merely for being a woman in power. I would love to get to talk to her and find out for myself what she was truly like.
The question, though, is what does one feed a Renaissance queen who is not only accustomed to the best of everything, but who is credited with introducing refinement to the French court? As my “dinner party” fare tends to run toward cheese boards, I’m thinking take-out from our favorite local special occasion restaurant...
Are you working on any new writing project that you could share a bit of info on?
I’ve been working on several projects, all of them partially finished but none quite ready to talk about. Hopefully soon...!
Thanks, Molly, for being my guest today! I wish you much success with your new novel. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of this truly ‘Marvelous’ story!!
