Making History Live and Breathe

The first thing you notice about Jennifer Donnelly is her passion. Whether you’re reading one of her novels or talking to her about them, expect the experience to be intense. Donnelly, who lives in the Hudson Valley, will be at Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck, NY, Saturday, Aug. 20, at 7:30 p.m. to read from her most recent novel, “The Wild Rose.” The book is the third in a series about an English family in 1914 London. Another thing her books all have in common is their historical backdrop. “I want history to live and to breathe and not be embalmed in my novels,” Donnelly said. “I want it to be a character in its own right.” She majored in European history and English literature in college, so historical fiction seems a natural fit for this writer. But Donnelly’s history takes brittle, weathered documents buried in the archives and links them with flesh and blood. In addition to the three Rose novels — “The Tea Rose” was first, followed by “The Winter Rose” — Donnelly has written two young adult novels and a children’s picture book. Her breakout book was “A Northern Light,” a young adult novel about a famous murder of a pregnant woman in the New York Adirondacks in 1906. The novel won the Carnegie Medal, the L.A. Times Book Prize, the Borders Original Voices Prize and a Michael L. Printz Honor and has been taught in high school English classes across the United States. “Revolution,” her other young adult book, weaves together the stories of two teenage girls, one who lives in contemporary New York City and one who lived in Paris during the French Revolution. Donnelly said that she doesn’t come up with ideas for stories — they find her. She uncovers some piece of history that grabs her and follows it compulsively to its conclusion. The world of the Roses books blossomed for her while she was a student in London. “I had this bananas landlord who made dolls and collected antiques,” she said. “He took me to the Portobello Road Market in a Model A Ford — where did he even get a Model A in London? We took off to the East End, which was a very shabby part of London at the time, in the ’80s, before it was developed. And I swear to God, we left modern day London and emerged in the London of Dickens. I was hooked, I was in love, I fell head over heels and I knew I wanted to write about this place and its people.” sThe story that would eventually become “The Tea Rose” took 10 years to write. And rewrite. And shop to publishers. And shop again. Until, finally, an editor decided to take a chance. “It was a very small advance, but I was so excited I literally danced on my table that night,” Donnelly said. “And once it was printed, my agent said to me, ‘What’s next?’ Oh yeah, something has to be next for these characters. I realized the main character had two brothers and followed their adventures.” “The Winter Rose” and “The Wild Rose” are the stories of those two brothers. Donnelly will read from “The Wild Rose,” which was released Aug. 2, and sign books during her visit to Oblong.  “It’s such a pleasure for me to do a reading at a local independent book store,” she said. “Oblong feels like a second home to me. Suzanna and Dick Hermans have been so supportive. I love the sense of community I find there, especially since I spend every day of my life in a room alone with my imaginary friends.” Jennifer Donnelly will be at Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck Saturday, Aug. 20, at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.oblongbooks.com or call 845-876-0500.