Episode 53: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

02/07/18 • -1 min

The Hazel Wood is the estate of the writer Althea Proserpine, author of one slight book of dark fairy tales, long out of print, almost impossible to find, but with a slavish, cultish following. It is a place Althea’s granddaughter, Alice, has heard about but never been, having spent her childhood on highways with her mother, moving from place to place, trying to escape some sensed but unseen danger, staying as far away from Althea and the Hazel Wood as possible. But when Alice’s mother is suddenly abducted, Alice knows that to find her she must uncover the secrets of the Hazel Wood, and, in so doing, come to terms with the question of what it means to be the author of her own story.

Oppenheimer talks with author Melissa Albert about the draw of YA literature ("it's the power of the new, the power of the now"), about what makes her want to write ("it's the same thing that makes me want to read: the draw to know what happens next"), and about Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and (of all things) Little House on the Prairie.

Guest readers Brian Slattery and Tui Sutherland join Oppenheimer to discuss the draw of the Hinterland, doomed princesses, and girls who make decisions. Plus, they offer Melissa Albert multiple ideas for sequels.

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Order today!

Available from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Previous Episode

Episode 52: Halsey Street by Naima Coster

Halsey Street is where Penelope Grand grew up, with her father, Ralph, who ran a locally famous record shop, and her mother, Mirella, who cleaned houses. It is the street from which she moved away, to try to forge her own life as a painter, and the street to which she returns, in her late 20s, to care for her father after her mother leaves him and moves back to the Dominican Republic. It’s a street that has suddenly become home to gourmet markets and sushi bars, a street that doesn't look the way it used to anymore. It's the place where Penelope has to figure out if or how she belongs, and who she is -- the place where she has to, in her mother’s words, "find her life."

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Naima Coster about "the kinds of distance and intimacy that can exist between people across lines of class and race," "figuring out how to find freedom without running away," and "not wanting to write a book in which nobody raised their voices."

Guest readers Emily Moore and Sophfronia Scott join Oppenheimer to discuss object studies, returning home, and what it means to be the woman in the attic.

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Next Episode

Episode 54: The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu

Camp Forevermore is a place where girls go to be remade, where, in the “wholesomeness of woods and sisterhood,” they will come home strong, capable, transformed. For Isabel, Dina, Nita, Andee, and Siobhan, this mission takes a darker turn when, out on a kayaking trip, their counselor suddenly dies, and they are left to try to find their way to safety. Moving back and forth between this fateful excursion and the later lives of these girls-turned-women, The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore traces the way a single event can cast ripples that extend far beyond and long after it has become something in the past.

Host Cyd Oppenheimer talks with author Kim Fu about Lord of the Flies, girls and their friendships, and unhappy endings.

Guest readers Yael Shinar and Alice Baumgartner join Oppenheimer to discuss mothers, daughters, and chickens, and what it means to be lost and then found.

Order today!

Available from:
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IndieBound