#Authorinterview with J.F. Collen, author of The Path of Saints and Sinners
Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Alma Boucher is talking with J.F. Collen, author of The Path of Saints and Sinners.
FQ: Nellie’s path is as much about her inner self as it is about the places she travels. What motivated you to carry on her story in such a politically charged setting like Great Salt Lake City in 1857?
COLLEN: I have been fascinated by the history of Salt Lake City since I first visited it as a kid, on a camping trip with my parents. With each visit, my curiosity grew. I found a whole different world in Salt Lake City, with a different culture than the Northeast. I was intrigued by the history of the city’s founding and started to research the details. As with any story there are conflicting statements of fact, controversies and multiple points of view—the perfect ingredients for a novel.
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| Author J.F. Collen |
COLLEN: As an historical fiction writer, I think the first step is to pick a side! Since I had created Cornelia Rose’s back story and personality in books 1 through 3, I tried to view my historical research from the lens of my fictitious main character, making her background and point of view the rubric for the readers’ experience of this moment in time. Thinking she landed in a utopia, Nellie finds herself plopped into the middle of a long-percolating controversy, and she needs all her resources to figure out where the danger to her family truly lies. I wanted to tell the story as it would have happened around my character at the exact moment of her arrival in Great Salt Lake City (the original, full name of the Utah capital.) Rumors and falsehoods swirl all around her. Access to information is sporadic at best. I wanted us to feel Nellie’s panic while she ferrets out the ‘truth’ of the controversies and tries to decide what to believe.
FQ: Obadiah’s position as a federal judge puts him in a delicate situation between two different worlds. What were the challenges in creating a character who is required to uphold law in a lawless and mistrustful environment?
COLLEN: I needed to build a character with a strong sense of self-worth and self- confidence, but human enough to recognize he needs a counterbalance and a helpmate. His backstory shows the strong moral fiber at his core and his belief in his ability to determine the right path and pursue his dreams. Obadiah acts with deliberate care, strategically navigating a path. I needed this character to be a strong head of the household, a good match for Nellie. He is well trained to use his exceptional wit and his great education to negotiate his family’s wellbeing.
FQ: Nellie’s strength lies not in open rebellion but in quiet resilience. How do you balance portraying a woman true to her time with giving her a voice modern readers can connect with?
COLLEN: It was a challenge! I tried to give Nellie the ability to challenge the status quo, even though she is a product of her upbringing and could not help but be ‘brainwashed’ by her time. I think Nellie vacillates between wanting all the things she was taught to want in life – a husband, a family, an education – and rebelling against those things as ties that bind her.
My theory is that people are the same, throughout history, even though their thoughts and opinions are shaped by their milieu. I think that people living in the past faced the same dilemmas we face today, and that, with access to the philosophies and thoughts of some of the great thinkers of that day through extensive reading, Nellie and some of the actual historic people she meets in my novel had the same perspectives on the events of their day that we share today.
FQ: Themes of faith, identity, and loyalty are central to the novel. How do you think these themes resonate with today’s readers, particularly in these divided times?
COLLEN: I think humans are always challenged to find a rubric of beliefs and create their identity and it is always interesting to me to see what path this takes. Some people think about their lives carefully and create themselves purposefully, and other people’s identities just come about from their circumstances. But I know I love a good fiction that illuminates a character’s evolution to a better person.
In today’s divided times I think we can find some solace in history. People in Utah in 1850 faced similar challenges to today’s and they resolved many of the issues through diplomacy, dialogue, kindness and empathy for the other’s plight. Maybe we can too.
FQ: Nellie’s marriage to Obadiah is layered and nuanced. What did you want readers to take away from their relationship, especially in the context of power, love, and gender roles?
COLLEN: All good relationships are layered, and nuanced and evolve with time. Hopefully they change for the better, and love smooths out the differences in power and gender roles.
I tried to understand women’s position in the 1850 and it led me to a sincere appreciation for the opportunities available today. Women had few rights in America in the 1850s. In the Netherlands, and some other countries, they had more at the time, but in the U.S. women could not vote, of course, and laws even constrained what property they could own. Women had to marry to have an income, social status and any rights at all. My review of primary sources confirmed many women put up with less-than-ideal marriages because there were no alternatives. Unmarried and widowed women had no voice.
So many circumstances marginalized people in general at that time – gender, poverty, lack of education, social status and extreme prejudices. I believe good historical fiction can help us examine the mindset and obstacles of former times and rejoice in how far we have come – even though, of course these same factors still block the path for many.
FQ: What kind of research went into capturing the conflict between the Mormons and the U.S. government during this era? Were there any surprising facts or stories you uncovered that made it into the novel?
COLLEN: As a lawyer, research is second nature to me, and a weird kind of fun!
I not only tried to visit as many of the places in my books as I could, I also searched for all available primary sources of information about the events and that time period. I have read the diaries of women who trekked across the country in search of a better life. I found shocking reports from Elders in the Church of the Latter-day Saints confirming the orders Brigham Young gave to vandalize and burn the United States Army’s wagons. I discovered letters from Elizabeth Wells Randall Cuming, the federally-appointed Governor’s wife, telling her family of the deprivation, starvation and extreme cold she suffered in the Mormon-burned Fort Bridger. And I laughed at Samuel Clemens and Horace Greeley’s accounts of their meetings with Brigham Young. Federally-appointed Judge Waite’s wife wrote an entire book about the intricacies and deep secrets of the Mormons at that time. And I read further accounts from the Mormon faithful of their quest to bring judgement on those who did not believe. There were so many surprising facts, so many interesting historical tidbits, that I could not cram them all in the book. But I did include all the best ones!
FQ: Humor and wit add unexpected lightness to a story filled with tension. How important is it to you to include moments of lightheartedness in your historical fiction?
COLLEN: Humor is imperative! I could not bear the vagrancies of life without a sense of humor, and neither can my characters. The comedic aspects of life are what keep us going in times of adversity. And times of happiness! Although, humor is a tricky business. Something is only funny within a specific context of time and place; it does not seem to transcend cultures. But I found my love of a good pun sometimes withstands the test of time.
FQ: Nellie’s daughters play significant roles in aiding her journey. Could you elaborate on how you portrayed these intergenerational relationships and the significance of women uplifting each other?
COLLEN: Our intergenerational relationships not only pass the wisdom of the ages down to modern times, but they comfort and sustain us. The mother/daughter relationship, I think, is timeless. Certainly, mothers gave different advice to their daughters in 1850, because the definition of what it meant to be a successful woman was different, but the intent was the same. Most mothers only want what is best for their offspring and they go to extreme lengths to try to obtain it.
I believe women must empathize and support each other’s choices – we need a sisterhood of understanding and help. No one achieves their goals without a little help from someone. We need to be each other’s someone.
FQ: How does The Path of Saints and Sinners build upon what you established in previous books? In what aspects has Nellie evolved, and in what aspects has she stayed the same?
COLLEN: I have taken my same characters and grown them up! As people grow, they change, and I have tried to make my characters do the same, while being true to their core selves. It has been fun putting them into situations and seeing how they react! I think Nellie has become a little less silly and flirtatious and a little more focused on what it takes to be a responsible mother, a loyal wife and a dedicated healer. I hope I have shown her to be less focused on her own whims and more focused on establishing a home and a community for those she loves.
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