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Articles by Rowan Beaird
The Undercurrents of “Under Story”: An Interview with Chloe Benjamin
When we’re young, there’s a specific intensity to reading. We stay up past our bedtimes, flashlight under the covers, the world we’re reading about more real to us than our own. It can be difficult to tap into this sense of immersion when we’re older, but this is the experience of reading Chloe Benjamin’s new novel, Under Story. It’s a book that will imprint on you; its story more like a memory.
A Bride’s Secret Past Threatens to Unravel a 1970s Island Wedding in New Novel
A wedding is supposed to be a celebration, but what happens when the bride arrives with a past she can't escape? Author Rowan Beaird joined The Morning Blend to discuss her new novel, Tenderness, a gripping mystery set during a 1976 island wedding. As family and friends gather to celebrate, questions swirl around bride Shay O'Connor, who recently left the notorious cult Synanon.
Is het einde van de millennial-bruiloftscultuur nabij?
Eerder deze maand trouwde Taylor Swift – misschien wel de ultieme millennial onder ons – met Travis Kelce, de tight end van de Kansas City Chiefs, tijdens een miljoenenbruiloft in Madison Square Garden, een gigantisch sport- en entertainmentcomplex. Naar verluidt waren er bijna 1000 gasten aanwezig. Om de een of andere reden voltrok Adam Sandler de ceremonie.
Is the Death of Millennial Wedding Culture Upon Us?
6 min read Earlier this month, Taylor Swift—perhaps the ultimate millennial among us—married Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in a multimillion-dollar ceremony in an 820,000-square-foot sports and entertainment complex. Reportedly, nearly 1,000 guests were in attendance. For some reason, Adam Sandler officiated. Like the excesses of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI before them, Swift and Kelce’s nuptial festivities feel, to me, like the swan song of a decadent era.
Rowan Beaird’s Book Notes music playlist for her novel Tenderness
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others. Rowan Beaird’s novel Tenderness is both propulsive and moving, a book both literary and thrilling.
What Romance Novels Taught Me About Writing Literary Fiction
Rowan Beaird on How Reading Romance Rewired Her Writing Brain In August of 2021, I couldn’t read. I’d just had a miscarriage—my second within six months—and every time I picked up a novel, my attention would splinter, the words disconnecting from one another, nearly incomprehensible. I complained about this to a friend. “I don’t know what to do,” I said. “It’s like my brain has changed. I can’t even reread books I love.” Article continues after advertisement She asked what I was reading.
Rowan Beaird on the Enduring Allure of Cults in Times of Uncertainty
Over the past few years, when I would tell people I was working on a book about a cult, everyone seemed to be an expert on the subject. Had I watched the series about the one out in Oregon? The one about the kids at Sarah Lawrence? Did I know about the one where the founder ingested colloidal silver, the one that prescribed orgasmic meditation, the one where they inexplicably played volleyball every night?
What do readers think of Tenderness by Rowan Beaird? Write your own review.
Write your own review! Kristine_A Kept My Attention I enjoyed the fact that the emphasis is on character development rather than action. But would have been enjoyed learning more about the inner workings of cults (like Synanon) and how they manipulate intelligent people to join and stay. Sherrie_Y Atmospheric, character-driven story set in the 1970's 3.5 stars This is my first introduction to Rowan Beaird. I was intrigued by the premise and the time period.
No Saints or Villains: An Interview with Megha Majumdar
In 2021, Megha Majumdar was working on a draft of what would becomeA Guardian and a Thief, but the book was not coalescing. “The characters were not working,” she shared. “And it’s very hard to face that feeling of failure, which I think is one of the most disheartening things for any writer, to realize that what you’ve put so much heart and thought into simply isn’t working for a reader.” Then she gave birth to her first son, and not only did her world change—the book did as well.
Inside the War Machine: Daniel Kraus’s Angel Down
Daniel Kraus has written more than two dozen novels and screenplays, but his latest—Angel Down—is the first novel the New York Times–bestselling author says he was nervous to submit since his first. Set amidst the brutal carnage of World War I, it’s the story of a group of five soldiers who stumble across a wounded angel on the battlefield.
“If You Think Too Technically, It Doesn’t Come to Life”: An Interview with Ruthvika Rao
It started with a photograph. Ruthvika Rao has always had a habit of combing through old newspapers, and one day, she came across a striking image in an edition of the New York Times from the 1970s. “At first, I didn’t even know what I was looking at,” she shared, but slowly, the scene took shape: a row of severed heads in a field in rural India. What had led to this brutal act? What had come after?
“Your Early 20s Are the Demo Tape”: An Interview with Liz Riggs About "Lo-Fi"
In the spring of 2020, music venues around the world went dark, and Nashville—a city where live music greets you in the airport—felt particularly quiet to Liz Riggs. She’d just submitted her MFA thesis and was thinking back to when she first moved to the city a decade before, and a girl she’d once seen stamping hands at a local venue. To a time that felt even more distant in the eerie silence of the pandemic; a sardine-tight audience, a thumping bass.
Book review: Rowan Beaird’s The Divorcees a transporting novel of female friendship on a ranch
The Divorcees By Rowan Beaird Fiction/Manilla Press/Paperback/256 pages/$25.77/Amazon SG (amzn.to/3W0Z2XM) 4 stars In post-Great Depression United States, when divorces were taboo and most states had lengthy procedures for marital break-up, Nevada was one exception where six weeks spent in a divorce ranch could guarantee a new start for women.
Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, March 22, 2024
This week, we review Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls, which considers "the nesting-doll lives of three generations" of Chinese American women and "brings into clear focus the ever-shifting complexities of mother-daughter relationships"; as well as Thunder Song by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe, who "skillfully sifts through the past, present, and the unraveling future, drawing from the different branches of her identity as a punk, queer Indigenous woman." Plus, The First State of...
Marriage Plots Are Soooo Last Season: 8 Novels About Divorce
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments.
Marriage Plots Are Soooo Last Season: 8 Novels About Divorce
We love to read about people falling in love, so it’s no surprise that starting in the eighteenth century, the marriage plot became the heart of countless novels. Though obviously, that’s not the only reason marriage is a great dramatic device. For centuries, marriage meant economic security and social acceptance, so novels by Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, and Henry James were able to use whether or not a character wed as the ultimate in stake-setting.
Inside a Glamorous Midcentury Divorce Ranch Original
"The Divorcées" whisks readers to a ranch in Reno, where unhappy wives once stayed to establish Nevada residency so they could file for divorce. THE DIVORCÉES, by Rowan Beaird My grandmother - who was born in Kobe in 1916, married in Calcutta and raised two children in the postwar London suburbs - used to tell me that the 1920s and 1930s were a wonderful time to be a woman.
Win A Copy Of The Book 'The Divorcées: A Novel' By Rowan Beaird
The book is in stores on Tuesday, March 19th from Flatiron. Click on the link to buy a copy. https://amzn.to/3uaWWcu Lois Saunders thought that marrying the right man would finally cure her loneliness. But as picture-perfect as her husband is, she is suffocating in their loveless marriage. In 1951, though, unhappiness is hardly grounds for divorce―except in Reno, Nevada.
Win A Copy Of The Book 'Tourist Season: A Novel' By Brenda Novak
The book is in stores on Tuesday, April 2nd from MIRA. Click on the link to buy a copy. A summer by the ocean promises new beginnings—until old secrets resurface. Ismay Chalmers is ready for a relaxing summer reconnecting with her fiancé at his family’s luxurious beachfront cottage. But before Remy can join her, a hurricane bears down on Mariners Island. Alone in the large house, Ismay makes a disturbing discovery in Remy’s childhood closet.
Win A Copy Of The Book 'In The Orbit Of You: A Novel' By Ashley Schumacher
The book is in stores on TUesday, March 19th from Wednesday Books. Click on the link to buy a copy. https://amzn.to/3UCk3HH It’s been years since Nova Evans last saw Sam. She was too young then to understand why he had to move away―and what it had to do with the cuts and bruises he got from home and never wanted to talk about. All she knew is that they promised to find each other when they were older, something she thought was impossible thanks to her and her mom moving around constantly.
Win A Copy Of The Book 'The Princess Of Las Vegas: A Novel' By Chris Bohjalian
The book is in stores on Tuesday, March 19th from Doubleday. To purchase a copy click on the link. https://amzn.to/3uLgowu Crissy Dowling has created a world that suits her perfectly. She passes her days by the pool in a private cabana, she splurges on ice cream but never gains an ounce, and each evening she transforms into a Princess, performing her musical cabaret inspired by the life of the late Diana Spencer.
100+ works of feminist-minded fiction - Women’s Words
Our collection of feminist-minded fiction celebrates an extraordinary range of styles, genres, themes and stories from around the world, and across centuries. Though wildly diverse, the books share one overriding criteria – they centre women. In them we meet trailblazing heroines who tread their own paths. Wise women who walk on the wild side. Adventurers of the political and erotic kind. Wayward girls and wicked women, to borrow the title of one of Angela Carter’s works of non-fiction.
Book Review: 'The Divorcées: A Novel' By Rowan Beaird
The book is in stores on Tuesday, March 19th from Flatiron. Click on the link to buy a copy. https://amzn.to/3uaWWcu The year is 1951 and Lois Sanders is tired of her marriage to Lawrence and wants a divorce. Her overbearing father is not happy about this, but agrees to help by sending her to Reno, Nevada, where you can get a quicky divorce, after six weeks of living there. She’s sent to the Golden Yarrow Ranch, which specializes in this.
Book Review: ‘How To Solve Your Own Murder: A Novel’ By Kristen Perrin
The year is 1965 and Frances is at a fair, with her two best friends, Rose and Emily, when she gets her fortune read. The fortune-teller says one day she will be murdered, and gives her clues that will lead up to it. She’s obsessed from that point forward, trying to figure out who will kill her and how. Forward almost sixty years later, and Annie Adams, is summoned by her great-aunt Frances, for a meeting about what ill happen to her vast estate once she’s gone.
What do readers think of The Divorcees?
Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird Reviews Media Reviews Reader Reviews Page 1 of 3 There are currently 18 reader reviews for The Divorcees Write your own review! Gwen C. (Clearfield, PA) The Divorcees The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird is a splendid novel.
70+ Novels That Feature Friendship
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” Wise words from Mark Twain, and a sentiment we couldn’t agree with more. Following on from that, given their vital importance in our lives, it’s little wonder that so many magnificent books explore friendship relationships in all their varied, complex forms. Some strangers enter our lives as rays of light we instinctively sense will transform us.
A House of One’s Own: Anne Elizabeth Moore’s New Memoir on the American Housing Crisis
by Rowan Beaird In 2016, alum Anne Elizabeth Moore (MA 1998) was given what many artists dream of: a free house in Detroit where she could live, research, and create. This incredible gift was facilitated by a local arts organization in an attempt to revitalize the city’s arts community. But what first appeared like a simple solution quickly showed its complexities—issues of race, housing inequity, and capitalism—all of which Moore explores in her new memoir, Gentrifier.
Perennial (Emerging Writer's Contest Winner: FICTION)
In fiction, our winner is Rowan Beaird for her story “Perennial.” Of her story, fiction judge Garth Greenwell said, “The subject of this delicate, psychologically penetrating story is the derangement of grief, which it dramatizes with deftness and patience. It demands a similar patience from the reader; its quiet discloses startling depths.
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