Book Nook: In the Company of Like-Minded Women

In the Company of Like-Minded Women (released October 14) is a thoughtful, inspiring historical novel - rich in detail about a time where the Wild West was still settling into civility - that celebrates the strength and courage of an earlier generation of women. Award-winning author Elaine Russell has crafted a novel filled with complex, sympathetic characters, touches of humor and a compelling, heart-warming storyline.   
And readers in 2018 – who’ve seen a rise in American women blazing trails in politics, civil rights and social issues – might be surprised to see the characters in Russell’s new novel struggling with similar issues at the start of the 20^thcentury.
In the Company of Like-Minded Women explores the complexities and bonds between sisters and family at the start of the 20th century, when women struggled to determine their future and the “New Woman” demanded an equal voice. Three sisters are reunited in 1901 Denver following a family rift many years before. Each one faces critical decisions regarding love, work, and the strength of her convictions. 

• What inspired your story?

This story is fiction, but the initial idea for In the Company of Like-Minded Women came from my great-grandmother on my father’s side. She lost my great-grandfather and one of her four children around 1900, about the time she turned forty. She had been a teacher, but decided to go to medical school, graduating in 1907. Other characters were inspired by ancestors on my mother’s side. Eva is based on my great-great Aunt Eva. She had scarlet fever as a young woman, which turned her hair white. 

• How does a new story idea come to you? Is it an event that sparks the plot or a character speaking to you?

Stories evolve from my various interests and are often closely linked to trips I’ve taken. My first adult novel, Across the Mekong River, developed from an interest in the large Hmong community in Sacramento where I live (there were Hmong children in my sons school). I wanted to know more about them and how they had ended up in California. Researching and writing that book led me on a life-changing adventure, traveling to Laos and volunteering with a nonprofit organization. My Martin McMillan mystery series began with my skateboarding son and his friends, along with our travels to other countries. A trip to Thailand led to being hired to write the picture book All About Thailand.

• Is there a message/theme in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

With my new novel, I want women today to recognize how brave women were in the early 1900s, standing up for their place in society and the right to vote. They accomplished major advancements for women and children’s rights due to their persistence and dedication. Colorado led the charge by convincing men to vote for a referendum approving women’s suffrage in 1893, a full twenty-seven years before national suffrage would be passed! Once women had the vote, they were able to successfully lobby for important reforms. I hope young women, in particular, will appreciate this struggle.

• What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I had a wonderful time researching this book. I spent several days at the History Colorado Center and the Denver Public Library Research Center among many other historical places. It was very exciting to go through the personal collections of Colorado women leaders such as Martha Conine (the first woman elected to the Colorade State House of Representatives in 1894) and Minnie Reynolds, a journalist and activists. Among the wonderful surprises I found, were a number of original letters from Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Lucy Stone to Denver’s Ellis Meredith, a journalist and suffrage supporter. 

About Elaine Russell: Elaine is an award-winning novelist/short story writer whose debut adult book, Across the Mekong River, was a finalist in the Carolina Wren Press 2010 Doris Bakwin Award for adult novels, the Maui Writer’s Conference 2003 Rupert Hughes Prose Writing Competition, and the Focus on Writers 2001 Friends of the Sacramento Library Awards. The novel also won four 2013 independent publisher awards after publication in 2012.   
The first book in Russell’s middle-grade adventure series, Martin McMillan and the Lost Inca City, is now in its second edition; Martin McMillan and the Secret of the Ruby Elephant won four 2013 independent publisher awards. Her most recent book, the young adult romance novel Montana in A Minor, was also aFriends of the Sacramento Library Awards winner in 2010.   
She is married with three grown children and two grandchildren, living with her husband in Sacramento, CA, and part time on the island of Kauai. Find out more about Elaine Russell at www.elainerussell.info.