Today, we have an interview with author Joyce Wayne. She is promoting her latest book, THe Cook's Temptation. Make sure to check out the giveaway at the end of the post!
Publisher: Mosaic Press
Date of publication: February 2014
Joyce Wayne brings to life the complexities of Victorian life, first in County Devon and then in London’s East End. The ‘big picture’ is about one woman’s life, class conflict, religious intolerance, suspicion and betrayal. The central figure is Cordelia, a strong-minded Jewish woman who is caught between her desire to be true to herself and her need to be accepted by English society. Cordelia Tilley is the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Anglican father. Her mother has groomed her for a life in English society while her father, a tough publican, has shown no tolerance for his wife’s social climbing or the conceits of their perspicacious daughter. Cordelia’s mother dies from typhoid fever, she tries to run the family ‘s establishment, she falls prey to a local industrialist, she gives birth to a son, she is tormented by her husband and his family. Finally, she is rescued by suffragette friends and sets off to start a new life in London.The Cook’s Temptation is about a woman who is unpredictable, both strong and weak willed, both kind and heinous, victim and criminal. It is a genuine Victorian saga, full of detail, twists and turns, memorable scenes, full of drama and pathos.
Date of publication: February 2014
Joyce Wayne brings to life the complexities of Victorian life, first in County Devon and then in London’s East End. The ‘big picture’ is about one woman’s life, class conflict, religious intolerance, suspicion and betrayal. The central figure is Cordelia, a strong-minded Jewish woman who is caught between her desire to be true to herself and her need to be accepted by English society. Cordelia Tilley is the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Anglican father. Her mother has groomed her for a life in English society while her father, a tough publican, has shown no tolerance for his wife’s social climbing or the conceits of their perspicacious daughter. Cordelia’s mother dies from typhoid fever, she tries to run the family ‘s establishment, she falls prey to a local industrialist, she gives birth to a son, she is tormented by her husband and his family. Finally, she is rescued by suffragette friends and sets off to start a new life in London.The Cook’s Temptation is about a woman who is unpredictable, both strong and weak willed, both kind and heinous, victim and criminal. It is a genuine Victorian saga, full of detail, twists and turns, memorable scenes, full of drama and pathos.
Praise for The Cook’s Temptation
“Joyce Wayne’s debut novel, The Cook’s Temptation, has the
stately bearing of a nineteenth century novel – the mercilessness of Thomas
Hardy, the black allegory of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the tense marriages of George
Eliot. It is a story of how people become what you blame them for being.” – Ian
Williams, poet and fiction writer, short listed for the 2012 Griffin Poetry
Prize
Kari & Autumn: What inspired you to
become a writer?
Joyce: Since I was in middle school, I’ve been
reading historical novels. The local librarian in my hometown knew me and
put aside new historical fiction that came into her library. Those
narratives, historical research combined with imagination, stuck with me into
adulthood. I’ve always wished to write a novel, having worked as a journalist
for many years. Journalism is fine, but not really the kind of writing I
yearned to pursue. It was more like teaching math when I preferred to be
teaching literature. Finally in my fifties, I found the courage and the
time to write fiction. It took five years to complete The Cook’s
Temptation.
Kari
& Autumn: Where do you come up with the ideas for your books?
Joyce: I’m an observer, as are most writers. The
idea for The Cook’s Temptation came from the media
coverage about new super bugs that are appearing in our hospitals and
clinics. I began thinking about what it would be like to carry a superbug
in Victorian times, my favorite period. How would a person be treated who
was considered contagious before there was medication to deal with infections?
Kari & Autumn: What exciting projects are waiting in the wings?
Joyce: Right now I’m working on a novel set in
the 1940s. It’s a spy thriller and it is about Canadians in Ottawa, the
federal capital of the country, who were spying for the Soviet Union during and
after the war. If you’ve been watching The Americans on TV, the series
about sleeper spies in the U.S. during the cold war, you’d be interested in my
new novel.
Kari & Autumn: Who is your favorite literary character and why?
Joyce: I’ve always loved Dorothea in George
Eliot’s Middlemarch. She is so earnest; she tries so
hard to please and yet remains her own person. At an essential level,
Dorothea remains true to her convictions. Middlemarch is
my touchstone, the book and characters I return to over and over again when I
am perplexed. Dorothea is my guide for the perplexed.
Kari & Autumn: Just for fun, if you could be any animal, what would it be and
why?
Joyce: I’d be a raccoon. Outside my house,
I can hear them and sometimes see them at night, scouring the neighborhood for
treats. They always appear to be so mischievous and they manage to
survive on ingenuity in their own urban neighborhood without going too far
afield. I admire their pluck.
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @joycewayne1951
About the author:
Joyce Wayne has an MA in English literature, has taught journalism
at Sheridan College, Oakville,
For more information please visit Joyce Wayne’s website. You can also connect with her
on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
She is happy to participate in Books Clubs by phone and Skype.
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