In the general scheme of things, I’ve found that be it villain or hero, no one person is all bad or all good. We humans are a complicated mixture of both. There are a lot of fathers (and mothers, as well) who love their children, but who make disastrous personal decisions that adversely affect the ones they love most. I’d certainly like to go back and change a few choices I made along the way. So that wasn’t so much of a challenge. For me, the biggest challenge of writing this book was finishing it after the sudden loss of my own father. Sitting down day after day, pushing my grief to the side and finishing my pages was, my friend, one of the toughest things I’ve ever done in my life.
11. In your Author’s Note, you explain that for many of Reeve’s essays you used actual newspaper clippings and other writings from the 1890s so as to accurately reflect the opinions of the day. How did you feel sifting through these opinions? Did you find what you expected?
I knew the views were strong, but to see it in black and white like that was quite startling. Some of the things I read I intentionally left out of Reeve’s writings because they would have made him so unheroic I was afraid the reader would find him unworthy of holding the male lead of the story. I really came to appreciate just how hard my female forbearers had to fight to overcome the prejudices of the time. I also saw that the motives of the men were not nefarious or self-serving. They truly thought they were protecting the women, society, and all of humankind. So at the end of the day, it was hard not to extend them a little grace.
12. In an interview with RT Book Reviews, you described your journey from being the “bad girl” of inspirational fiction to being a “good girl” now that you’ve crossed into the general market. Do you find that your writing is significantly different now that your audience has broadened? Why or why not?
My writing hasn’t really changed all that much. When I wrote for the inspirational market, my editor simply pointed out the parts she thought might be troublesome, and together we figured our what parts to keep in and what parts to take out. And even though I have a very deep faith, I feel a book can be inspirational without proselytizing. My editor agreed and always allowed me to incorporate the inspirational aspect of the story in a way I felt comfortable with. For me, it was like weaving a fine gold thread into a colorful plaid—it wasn’t anything that dominated or jumped out at you, but was instead something that added a bit of beauty in a very subtle way. With my general market books, both the hero and heroine still have Christian worldviews—which is very true to the times—but there isn’t an underlying faith element.
13. Flossie seems happy that Marylee Merrily marries Mr. Bookish, but disturbed and unhappy that Marylee gives up her photography career, secretly wishing that the heroine could have had both. Though Reeve agrees to Flossie’s proposal that all their earnings be “our money,” it isn’t clear that she will continue working, especially since Tiffany has a policy against employing married women. Did you imagine that Flossie would work after marriage? Why or why not?
As much as I wanted Flossie to continue working after marriage, it would have been grossly inaccurate from a historical perspective, especially if she was a Tiffany employee. His stance on this issue was well documented and adhered to. Even Clara Driscoll had to leave his employ after marriage.
In the ending of The Merry Maid of Mumford Street, Mr. Bookish might have been willing to let his wife continue with photography, but he would not have allowed her to earn wages doing it. My concession for Flossie in Tiffany Girl was that even though Mr. Tiffany would not keep her on as an employee, Reeve was perfectly willing for her to earn—and keep—any wages produced through her painting. It might not have tied everything up in the pretty little bow we often long for, but it was as much as I was willing to compromise on the historically accurate scale.
KOREY HOWELL PHOTOGRAPHY
DEEANNE GIST has rocketed up bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere with her very fun, very original historical novels. She has won the National Readers’ Choice Award, Booksellers’ Best Award, USA Best Books Award, and rave reviews. With a background in education and journalism and a degree from Texas A&M, Deeanne has written for People, Parents, and Parenting magazines. She has four grown children and lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband. Visit her online at IWantHerBook.com and at Facebook.com/DeesFriends.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Howard Books trade paperback edition May 2015
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Interior design by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Full-page Tiffany art provided by Vidriera / Shutterstock.com
Cover Design by Faceout Studio
Cover Photography by Brandon Hill
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gist, Deeanne.
Tiffany girl : a novel / Deeanne Gist.
pages ; cm
1. Women artists—Fiction. 2. World’s Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.) —Fiction. 3. Chicago (Ill.) —Social life and customs—19th century—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3607.I55T54 2015
813'.6—dc23
2014037862
ISBN 978-1-4767-3853-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4516-9244-0 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4516-9247-1 (ebook)
Deeanne Gist, Tiffany Girl
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