The following is an interview with author Elaine Neil Orr regarding the release of her novel, Dancing Woman, through Blair Publishing. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Orr about her creative process in bringing the story to life on the page, what she hopes that readers may take away from the story, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the release of Dancing Woman! For those who may be unfamiliar, how would you describe the book’s premise, and what inspired you to tell this story?
Elaine Neil Orr: A young American woman, Isabel Hammond, travels with her agricultural engineer husband to northern Nigeria in the early 1960s. She is running away from discouragement, as well as to a new beginning. But she finds herself unmoored, and in a moment of passion makes a precipitous choice that could upend her young marriage and her plans for a new life. Soon after, she uncovers a work of ancient art in her garden. It seems to speak to her at a deep, spiritual level. Between these two events, the story unfolds as Isabel seeks to discern her true destiny.
BD: The novel deftly balances the navigation of societal pressures with thoughtful self-discovery. What can you share with us about your creative process in weaving these narratives together?
ENO: I imagine most women who are alive or have ever been alive have been balancing societal pressures with self-discovery, if, that is, they ever had time and opportunity for self-discovery. What every human wants is self-discovery. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to write about or to put on the page. An authentic, individual character has to be created. In the case of Isabel, I had to imagine her back-story in Richmond, Virginia, in order to know what she might do once she arrived in northern Nigeria in the sixties. What would she be prepared for and what would surprise her. I made her father a Sicilian immigrant because I thought it would make Isabel an American girl who felt a bit outside white middle-class culture. This would make her more open, I thought. I also created a situation in which she is tutored in art by a Cuban exile. This, too, taught her that human diversity is a source of strength and beauty. Henry James says somewhere that a novel must be built “brick by brick.” Of course, the bricks aren’t supposed to show. The reader is supposed to be swept away in the plot and character development. But for me, at least, the back-story is so important in building the momentum that leads the character forward. Isabel grows up in Virginia and sees the life her mother lives and feels the pressure to marry as the only way “out.” Though in the case of her young husband, at least he is going to take her a world away. And she’s ready to go.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that Isabel’s story may connect with and impact readers?
ENO: I became a serious reader in college when I was coming out of a deep depression, and the depression had to do with my feeling isolated, as if no one could possibly know my sorrow. But when I read, I discovered that everyone experienced sorrow and doubt, as well as hope and passion. I wasn’t unlike everyone else. I was, in some essential way, like everyone else who hopes and dreams and weeps. Isabel Hammond is a kind of every woman. She wants to be connected and in her time that means have a family. But she also wants her own world of creative life, her own dreaming life. Historically, this has been the part of life that women have not been encouraged to have or to give themselves to. She struggles to be a woman artist because for so long those terms—woman/artist—have been set against one another and especially—mother/artist. I think women especially may feel Isabel’s struggle deeply. But we all know that in the imaginative world of fiction, any person of any gender or nationality or religion or race can slip into the skin of the protagonist. We can read a story about a Mexican girl in a small village and feel her story and her longing or a story about a migrant boy living on the Texas/Mexican border who wonders what his future will be or where his father has disappeared to and feel his deepest despair and love. The special focus of my novel is the human need for connection and self-expression. My belief is that everyone, at heart, wants to be an artist. We were all created with a desire for song.
BD: What makes Blair Publishing the perfect home for Dancing Woman?
ENO: Most obviously and essentially, the publisher and editor love the book, and when a writer [has] a strong independent press, a writer has everything. Along with that, Blair is a press devoted to bringing books into the world as works of art. The physical book is a work of art. I hope anyone who purchases it will take the jacket cover off and find the gold foil bird on the hard cover. It’s gorgeous. So there’s that. And then, being an independent publisher, Blair is devoted to each title and gives it great love and attention. They don’t drop your book in a flow of hundreds or thousands but rather install it like a painting in a museum, meaning for it to stay. For this book, Dancing Woman, especially, which is about art and passion, Blair is perfect. I am incredibly grateful for what they have given to it.
BD: Do you feel that fans of your previous books, A Different Sun and Swimming Between Worlds, will easily find a home with this new story in terms of its overall themes and tone?
ENO: Yes, absolutely. In a way, the books are a trilogy. Each takes a different look at journeys that link the American South with the West Coast of Africa and Nigeria especially. One occurs in the 19th century while two are set in the 1960s. But each has a very distinct character. Each character is looking for something but not the same thing. All three intertwine historical context with the character’s complex lives and internal landscapes. In each novel, I take great care in world building, establishing place and atmosphere so that they become part and parcel of the characters’ experience. All three tell stories of passion and desire but also raise ethical and moral questions for the characters that are rooted in history.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
ENO: After I wrote to scholarly books and became a full professor of English at North Carolina State University, I had the freedom to write other sorts of books. The first was the memoir of my growing up in Nigeria. Readers of my fiction may enjoy going back to my 2003 memoir, Gods of Noonday: A White Girl’s African Life.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Dancing Woman and your other work?
ENO: My website: elaineneilorr.com. Or follow me on Facebook and Instagram: @elaineneilorr. My website includes my email address if anyone wishes to write to me about a book club in person or by Zoom.
