THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS: A Novel
By Anna-Marie McLemore
St. Martin’s Griffin
On Sale: September 15, 2015
ABOUT
THE BOOK:
The Night Circus meets Romeo and Juliet in this stunning young adult
novel about two teens who fall in love despite the almost impossible odds
against them.
The Palomas and the Corbeaus have long been rivals and enemies,
locked in an escalating feud for over a generation. Both families make their
living as traveling performers in competing shows-the Palomas swimming in
mermaid exhibitions, the Corbeaus, former tightrope walkers, performing in the
tallest trees they can find.
Lace Paloma may be new to her family's show, but she knows as well
as anyone that the Corbeaus are pure magia negra, black magic from the devil
himself. Simply touching one could mean death, and she's been taught from birth
to keep away. But when disaster strikes the small town where both families are
performing, it's a Corbeau boy, Cluck, who saves Lace's life. And his touch
immerses her in the world of the Corbeaus, where falling for him could turn his
own family against him, and one misstep can be just as dangerous on the ground
as it is in the trees.
Interview:
1. What do you want most for a reader to gain by reading The Weight of Feathers?
We are all both the same and not the same. We come from different experiences, different backgrounds, different cultures, but there are always things that bridge us.
2. What are your three top suggestions on becoming an author, or being a pleasure writer?
Take in as much art as you can—books, music, paintings, movies, and the many other forms out there. Taking in art fuels creating it.
Know what you believe, what you value, what you care about. You won’t be thinking about it every minute you’re writing, but it will come through.
Find those you feel like you fit with. Having people around you who inspire you is so important to making art.
3. What or who in your life do you attribute to your imagination to the most? Why is that?
My family—they’re so many of us, and we come at the world in so many different ways, that I learned early that there was depth and chaos and beauty to how many ways there are to see things.
4. What was your favorite part of writing The Weight of Feathers?
I loved writing the descriptions of the Palomas’ and the Corbeaus’ shows. Immersing myself in that world felt like a kind of magic.
5. To the youth of today, if you could tell them one thing, what would it be?
Tell your own stories, and listen to each other’s. Sharing our stories is how we find each other.
Thank you so much for having me!
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Anna-Marie McLemore was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel
Mountains and grew up in a Mexican-American family. She attended University of
Southern California on a Trustee Scholarship. A Lambda Literary Fellow, she has
had work featured by the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West,
CRATE Literary Magazine's cratelit, Camera Obscura's Bridge the Gap Series, and
The Portland Review. The Weight of
Feathers is her first novel.
Anna-Marie McLemore:
PRAISE:
“McLemore’s prose is ethereal and beguiling… The
enchanting setup and the forbidden romance that blooms between these two
outcasts will quickly draw readers in, along with the steady unspooling of the
families’ history and mutual suspicions in this promising first novel.” —Publishers
Weekly
“Readers beguiled by the languorous language—a
striking mix of French and Spanish phrases, wry colloquialism, lush imagery,
and elevated syntax—will find themselves falling under its spell. The
third-person narration alternates between Lace and Cluck, doling out twists and
building to a satisfying, romantic conclusion.” —Kirkus Reviews
“In this tale of magical realism, the magic is so deftly
woven into the fabric of the story… Told with skillful poetic nuances, this
Romeo-and-Juliet story of forbidden love will entice fans of Maggie
Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle who wished for a little more romance.” —School
Library Journal
“Anna-Marie McLemore's debut novel is a very imaginative
modern-day romance akin to Romeo and Juliet and is infused with the whimsy of
magical realism.” —RT Book Reviews
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