The Pull of the Moon

I love this book because I love imperfect, flawed heroines…and as a fifty-something woman, Nan spoke to me.

How many times do we think of running away—even if just for a bit—but responsibilities and maybe even fear keep us from acting? Not Nan—she takes off, simply leaving an abrupt note for her husband, Martin (which takes place before the book opens). The narrative alternates between letters to Martin and journal entries (Nan spills her thoughts into a turquoise leather tooled journal with a black string fastener and a silver button—I love that detail).

The lyrical descriptions of each place Nan… show more.

When I presented the second draft of the manuscript of my book to my developmental editor, I really thought it was done.

“Nope, not a novel yet. Where’s your inciting incident?”
“What’s an inciting incident?” She explained.
I retorted: “Well, I read this book about a woman who’s just going through menopause, so she goes on a solo road trip. No inciting incident there.”
“What, and you don’t think menopause is an inciting incident?”

And then I re-read Elizabeth Berg’s beautiful story of a long-term marriage; what’s left when child-rearing is done; and what you discover from strangers when you… show more.