Looking for a must read for your fall reading list? Honeysuckle Season from author Mary Ellen Taylor released the beginning of this month, and today we’re getting an inside look into the novel. The story takes place in Virginia where the author was born and raised. The novel which starts off with a peek into the lifelong friendship of Olivia and Sadie turns to the current day where we meet Libby who following her divorce and the death of her father has moved back to her hometown.
After wedding photoshoot at the historic Woodmont estate, she meets the current owner Elaine who plans to open the estate to the public. Elaine hires Libby for the job of photographing the estate and grounds. As she explores the beautiful estate, Libby meets young widower Colton Reese, and uncovers a long buried secret.
In this interview Mary shares about when she first came up with the idea for the novel, who would play the main characters if the novel was turned into a feature film and a sneak peek into her next novel releasing next year.
When did you first come up with the idea for your latest novel, Honeysuckle Season?
I start each novel with the main character, so Honeysuckle Season began with Libby. I liked the idea that she was woman at a crossroads, where life sometimes puts us all. I had the entire book plotted out, my editor gave me the thumbs up on the synopsis and I started writing. But as I was writing the first two hundred pages, a character, I had not really expected to walk on the page, appeared. It was Olivia. I could not stop thinking about her and her friendship with Sadie. Finally, I tossed out those first two hundred pages and started over. And once I let Sadie and Olivia tell their story, Libby’s came to me more fully and the book began to write itself.
You were born in the South and the novel takes place in Virginia. What do you enjoy the most about showing your love for your home state through the locations in your novels?
I was born in Richmond, Virginia, and my family are from the Roanoke and Shenandoah Valleys. I’ve also lived in Alexandria and spent a lot of time on the Eastern Shore. All these locations have shown up in my novels because each is so rich with history, charm and beauty.
Where is one of your favorite places to write?
I started writing when my children were babies, so I turned my living room into my office. It was very practical because little happened in the house without me hearing it. My kids have long ago left the nest, but I’m still writing in the same living room at the desk my father gave me years ago when he retired from practicing law.
I love that the main character, Libby is a photographer. How much planning goes into the different characters before you start writing?
In Libby’s case I interviewed a young woman who is a nurse and was also building her wedding photography business. We spent several hours talking about the events she had photographed and some of the funny wedding moments she’s experienced. Once I had Libby’s vocation, I started to think about her as a person and what she had experienced growing up as an adoptee. I am an adoptive parent, so you’ll see many of the Mary Ellen Taylor books feature some kind of adoption theme whether it’s from the adoptee’s, adoptive parents, or birth parents’ prospective.
I was enchanted by the Woodmont estate. Was it based on a real estate, combination of estates or purely imaginary?
It’s based on several historical homes here in Virginia. In the winter/spring of 2019, I toured several of them and learned not only their history but also how the properties are maintained today. Many have become wedding and meeting venues to generate the income needed to keep them going. Some of these homes, have been in the same family for two hundred years.
If Honeysuckle Season were to be turned into a feature film, who would you like to play Libby and Colton?
That’s a tough one. There are so many talented actors and actresses and sometimes it comes down to an image I happen to see on the internet. Chris Pine or Josh Duhamel would make a great Colton. And for Libby, Margot Robbie or Emilia Clarke. Again, it’s impossible to say. Often readers have their own idea of who the characters look like and I’m always excited to hear their ideas.
If you could meet any of the characters from the novel in real life, who would it be?
I’d like to meet Sadie in Honeysuckle Season. She’s a depression era kid who has endured her share of hard knocks. She’s not only survived but also thrived.
What was it like when one of your books made the New York Times Best Seller list for the first time?
It was unexpected so it was particularly amazing. My editor sent me a lovely arrangement of roses, and he was as excited as I was to make the list. It’s always really thrilling when I make any of the lists including the USA Today Bestseller, Amazon Most Sold, and Amazon Most Read lists. It’s very humbling to know that there are that many people out there who are willing to give one of my books a try.
In addition to the novels that you publish under Mary Ellen Taylor, you have also published suspense novels under Mary Burton, including the novel Never Look Back that also came out this year. How do you separate your mindset when going between the different genres?
It’s really not that hard. In fact, I enjoy balancing the two genres because each one challenges me in different ways. The Mary Burton books are suspense and are driven not only by the characters, but also the forensic science and police procedure. The Mary Ellen Taylor books always include a historical element and I love diving into old journals, history books or touring historical sites.
Are you currently working on your next novel and if so, could we get a sneak peak?
I just finished The Words We Whisper, which will be out in the summer of 2021. As I did in Honeysuckle Season, I rotate between a past and present story. The modern-day heroine is Zara, a hospice nurse, who is summoned home to care for her 98-year-old Italian grandmother Nonna, who insists that Zara clean out her attic. The secrets Nonna have been keeping date back to Rome in 1943, and Nonna is desperate to share them with Zara and her sister Gina before she dies.
Mary Ellen Taylor
Adrift in the wake of her father’s death, a failed marriage, and multiple miscarriages, Libby McKenzie feels truly alone. Though her new life as a wedding photographer provides a semblance of purpose, it’s also a distraction from her profound pain.
When asked to photograph a wedding at the historic Woodmont estate, Libby meets the owner, Elaine Grant. Hoping to open Woodmont to the public, Elaine has employed young widower Colton Reese to help restore the grounds and asks Libby to photograph the process. Libby is immediately drawn to the old greenhouse shrouded in honeysuckle vines.
As Libby forms relationships and explores the overgrown—yet hauntingly beautiful—Woodmont estate, she finds the emotional courage to sort through her father’s office. There she discovers a letter that changes everything she knows about her parents, herself, and the estate. Beneath the vines of the old greenhouse lie generations of secrets, and it’s up to Libby to tend to the fruits born of long-buried seeds.
Pick up your copy of Honeysuckle Season.
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