Mary Lawson, Author

On Thursday evening I went to a presentation by the Canadian Women's Club to meet one of my favorite authors, Mary Lawson. With the Weston Library Book Group, I had read both of Mary's books Crow Lake and The Other side of the Bridge -- and I loved them both. Her stories were set in northern Ontario, and told stories of farmers and their families -- and the relationships between family members.

Mary talked about her background. She was born in Canada, but moved to England at the age of 22 in 1968, and has lived here ever since. She was a psychologist and a mom and a short story writer for many years before writing her novels.
As she described her writing process, the novels took her three to six years to finish. She also told of the many setbacks and frustrations she experienced in her attempts to get her first novel published. When I spoke with her individually, she mentioned that The Other Side of the Bridge was not selling as well as hoped in the U.S.
During her presentation, she also read excerpts from both novels. It was a real treat.

On the way to the presentation, I stopped at a book store and bought a copy of each of her books. (Mine were back home in Connecticut.) After her talk, she signed both of them for me.

Tonight was the closest I have come to being a 'groupie.' This is one author I was very excited about meeting, and the evening more than fulfilled all my expectations. The author was as interesting as her books were.

I was happy to hear she has started on a third novel.....