Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Trouble the Water
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://jacquelinefriedland.com/
CITY: Westchester
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
Unable to select heading in LOC
PERSONAL
Married; children: four.
EDUCATION:University of Pennsylvania graduate (magna cum laude); New York University Law School (magna cum laude); Sarah Lawrence College, M.F.A., 2016.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Attorney, teacher, writer. Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP, New York, commercial litigator; Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, New York, commercial litigator; Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Manhattan, NY, teacher of legal writing and lawyering skills.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Attorney and teacher Jacqueline Friedland writes historical romance. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania and New York University Law School, she has been a commercial litigator at the New York law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP. She has also taught legal writing and lawyering skills at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan. Friedland returned to school to earn an M.F.A. in writing from Sarah Lawrence College.
In 2018, Friedland published her debut book, Trouble the Water, set twenty years before the Civil War. Seventeen-year-old Abigail Milton is shipped off to America to ease the crushing debt of her British middle class family. She is to live in the Charleston, South Carolina house of twenty-seven-year-old Douglas Elling, her father’s best friend from childhood, a disagreeable man who made his wealth in the shipping industry. Abby is relieved when Elling leaves her to a governess and has little interest in her. She settles into a life of debutante balls and Southern hospitality until she overhears Elling planning the escape of a neighbor’s pregnant slave. After she offers to help Elling, Abby becomes embroiled in the dangerous business of Abolitionists in the Deep South, especially when Elling’s lack of bigotry arouses suspicion in Charleston. Friedland explores the issue of slavery and the Underground Railroad. The book “envelops readers in the whisper network of the abolitionists, [and] the complicated social structure of the aristocracy,” according to Stephanie Turza in Booklist.
As Abby and Elling work out their feelings for each other, the manipulative Cora Rae Cunningham has her eyes on Elling. “This is a promising debut from Friedland, who writes with an enviable emotional intuitiveness. Her prose bores to the center of her characters’ psychologies to reveal their drives and desires,” explained a contributor in Kirkus Reviews. The contributor also praised Friedland for her engaging characters, and well-researched novel about the aristocratic world of South Carolina’s planter class.
In an interview online at Linda’s Book Obsession, Friedland explained her motivation for writing about her chosen topics: “My inspiration in writing my books is ultimately about empathy. I love the idea that a story I tell could teach people to view certain aspects of life from new perspectives.” Friedland also told C.P. Lesley on the C.P. Lesley website: “This era is so full of juxtapositions—cruelty and heroism; opulence and deprivation; tragedy and hope. There are still so many untold stories from the time period, so many emotional components to explore, and I wanted to add my voice and my characters to the conversation.”
A writer online at Book Reviews and More, said: “Trouble the Water remains true to the time period which adds authenticity to the plot. Jacqueline Friedland’s research is absolutely impeccable and her depictions of the slave owners’ attitudes toward their slaves is realistic.” Nevertheless, the reviewer admitted that the book had slow pacing and clichéd romance, and that Abby was smart and capable, but also immature. On the Historical Novel Society website, contributor Helene Williams explained that Friedland addresses some big issues, from slavery and abolition to sexual trauma, however, Williams observed: “Friedlander tends to tell, rather than show, what her characters are thinking and feeling, making for abrupt shifts in tone and mood as well as less-than-believable actions.” On the other hand, a Broken Teepee online reviewer explained: “Friedland knows how to set a scene and do it well. As a reader you feel like you are there with the characters …It’s a real skill for an author to bring her reader into time and place like that.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2018, review of Trouble the Water.
ONLINE
Booklist, https://www.booklistonline.com/ (May 1, 2018), Stephanie Turza, review of Trouble the Water.
Book Reviews and More, https://www.bookreviewsandmorebykathy.com/ (May 7, 2018), review of Trouble the Water.
Broken Teepee, https://brokenteepee.com/ (May 7, 2018), review of Trouble the Water.
C.P. Lesley, http://blog.cplesley.com/(May 11, 2018), C.P. Lesley, author interview.
Historical Novel Society, https://historicalnovelsociety.org/(May 1, 2018), Helene Williams, review of Trouble the Water.
Linda’s Book Obsession, https://lindasbookobsession.blog/ (May 19, 2018), author interview.
Jacqueline Friedland graduated Magna Cum Laude from both the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School. She practiced as a commercial litigator at the New York law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP. After determining that office life did not suit her, Jacqueline began teaching Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan and working on her first book in her limited spare time. Finally deciding to embrace her passion and pursue writing full time, Jacqueline returned to school to earn her Masters of Fine Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, graduating from the program in 2016.
When not writing, Jacqueline is an avid reader of all things fiction. She loves to exercise, watch movies with her family, listen to music, make lists, and dream about exotic vacations. She lives in Westchester, New York with her husband, four children and a Cavalier King Charles. Trouble the Water is her first novel.
Lindas Book Obsession Interviews Jacqueline Friedland Author of “Trouble the Water”
By lindasbookobsession in Uncategorized on May 19, 2018 No comments
IMG_3778IMG_1947Lindas Book Obsession Interviews Jacqueline Friedland
Interview Questions
1. What is your motivation or inspiration in writing your books?
My inspiration in writing my books is ultimately about empathy. I love the idea that a story I tell could teach people to view certain aspects of life from new perspectives.
2. How did you know that you wanted to be an author/writer?.
I have loved to write ever since I was child. Friends used to come to me in elementary school asking me to write poems for their parents’ birthday cards or songs relating to whatever school projects we were working on. As I grew older, I wrote stories to entertain friends, and I always loved sharing my written ideas with people. That passion has never dwindled, and I finally decided to pursue it as a career choice.
3. How do you maintain a balance in your life, between your family, and being an author?.
I find that I am unable to write anything of value when my children are in the house. Even if they are in a different part of the house and try to give me privacy, I can’t get into the right head space when I know I might be disturbed at any moment. Because of that, I try to be very disciplined whenever the kids are at school or busy with other activities because I know as soon as they return, my opportunity to produce work will be over. Luckily, my children are all at the age where they are in school all day, and their lives are busy with many other extra curricular activities.
4. What is a typical day in your life?
With four kids, it’s very difficult to find a day that is “typical”. On the rare occasions that no one is home sick or has a school assembly or a special doctor’s appointment, the day usually goes as follows. The kids go off on the bus by 7:30 am. Then I am at my computer for about six hours. After that, I try to squeeze in some exercise, take a quick shower, and prepare for my kids to return home. Then it’s carpooling and homework for the rest of the night.
5. What are your hobbies or things you like to do in your downtime?
I love to read and to exercise. I enjoy cooking with my kids and hanging out in front of a big fire. I also love to get involved in crafts projects, especially latch hook rugs.
6. Can you tell us anything about your new writing projects?
My next project is contemporary fiction about a young Manhattanite who reconnects with her first great love years after their catastrophic breakup. She discovers that he has been diagnosed with a fatal illness, and she has to decide whether a few more months with her ex are worth sacrificing several pieces of her future. It’s still a work in progress, but I am hoping to finish it within the next fee months.
7. How would you like readers to connect with you?
Readers can connect with me through my website at www.jacquelinefriedland.com and follow me on social media. I love to hear from everyone!
Friday, May 11, 2018
Interview with Jacqueline Friedland
In addition to having a lot of authors to interview at the moment (a wonderful position to be in, on the whole!), I also have several pairings of authors whose books are being released on the same day. In some cases, because commercial publishers tend to focus their publicity campaigns on the weeks surrounding a release, that means one author gets a podcast interview and the other doesn’t. With smaller independent publishers, it means one has a podcast interview close to the release and the other waits a few months. As someone who knows next to nothing about marketing, this seems to me not such a bad thing: why not remind readers that a book exists?
In any event, this week’s post offers a brief Q&A with Jacqueline Friedland, whose Trouble the Water appeared on May 8. I’ll be talking with her about the novel at more length in late summer/early fall. Meanwhile, Ellen Notbohm’s The River by Starlight, which also appeared on May 8, is the subject of my May podcast, which should go live any day. Don’t forget to check New Books in Historical Fiction nd this blog at regular intervals to find out more about these and the other amazing writers who give me the chance to interview them about their books.
And now, a big thank you to Jacqueline Friedland for answering my questions!
Like several authors I’ve interviewed—including my fellow Five Directions Press member Claudia H. Long—you began your professional life as a lawyer. What led you to start writing novels instead?
While there were some aspects of law I did actually enjoy, like analyzing complex texts and drafting persuasive writing, I always felt like something was missing, like I was a puzzle piece being jammed into the wrong jigsaw puzzle. I had been afraid to pursue writing straight out of college, as it felt like a true gamble, but my desire to write fiction nagged and nagged at me until I ultimately gave in.
And why this novel in particular?
I have always loved historical fiction for its ability to teach and entertain simultaneously. Trouble the Water focuses on the American South twenty years prior to the Civil War. This era is so full of juxtapositions—cruelty and heroism; opulence and deprivation; tragedy and hope. There are still so many untold stories from the time period, so many emotional components to explore, and I wanted to add my voice and my characters to the conversation.
What can you tell us about your heroine, Abigail Milton, in a paragraph or two, that will set the stage for her story?
Abigail Milton is a British young woman on the cusp of adulthood. Her middle-class family has fallen into insurmountable debt, and they have been forced to spend the past several years in a tenement village near the factories in Wigan, England. Abby works long hours in the local cotton mill alongside her younger sister, but her meager earnings do little to increase the family coffers. When Abby begins having emotional outbursts of increasing proportions, her parents decide to send her to the United States, where she will be able to live off the charity of a family friend in Charleston.
Abby arrives in Charleston intent on saving herself from the secret horrors she endured in Wigan. When she moves into an enormous estate owned by the reclusive Douglas Elling, Abby’s main objective is to build a life of independence for herself. As she begins to settle in and grow more comfortable in Charleston, however, she finds herself inadvertently dropping her guard and discovering new reasons to hope for happiness.
The man who takes her in, Douglas Elling, has quirks and secrets of his own. What do we need to know about him?
Douglas Elling is a twenty-seven-year-old shipping tycoon who has suffered great tragedy in his life. He traveled to America from England after university and fell so deeply in love with an American girl that he stayed in the States to marry her. Shortly after marriage, he inherited his father-in-law’s booming import/export business and he also freed the family’s slaves. His clear lack of bigotry arouses suspicion throughout Charleston, as people wonder whether perhaps Douglas is doing more to fight slavery. As rumors spread that he is a secret abolitionist, bandits set fire to his home, most likely to send a message. Unfortunately, his wife and daughter are killed in the blaze, and Douglas is never the same.
Abigail, by the time we meet her, has not only endured a rapid decline in her fortune but must also cope with a change of country when her impoverished family sends her to the US South to live with a wealthy friend of theirs. How does she handle this disruption in her life?
By the time Abigail arrives in Charleston, disruption is the only constant in her life. She is adamant, however, that she will no longer be a passive victim to her own circumstances. She has decided to build herself a new life, one where she is the master of her own destiny. She devises a plan to become a teacher or a governess and to remain forever unwed so that she will be able to live independently and determine her life’s path. As she walks deeper into her new world in Charleston, though, she begins to reconsider many of her deeply held beliefs.
What are you working on now?
I am putting the finishing touches on my second novel and doggedly attempting to brainstorm ideas for my third.
Jacqueline Friedland, once a practicing lawyer, earned her Masters of Fine Arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 2016. When not writing, she is an avid reader of all things fiction. Trouble the Water is her first novel. You can find out more about her and her book at www.jacquelinefriedland.com.
Posted by C. P. Lesley at 9:23 AM
Email This
BlogThis!
Share to Twitter
Share to Facebook
Share to Pinterest
No comments:
Post a Comment
Ideas, suggestions, comments? Write me a note. (Hint: You can choose Anonymous or Name/URL from the profile list. You do not need a Google or OpenID account.)
6/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1529777769312 1/2
Print Marked Items
Friedland, Jacqueline: TROUBLE THE
WATER
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Friedland, Jacqueline TROUBLE THE WATER Spark Press (Indie Fiction) $16.95 5, 8 ISBN: 978-1-
943006-54-0
In Friedland's debut historical novel, a British family sends their daughter to South Carolina, where she
becomes embroiled in the mid-19th-century politics of the Deep South.
Abby Milton arrives in Charleston in 1845, already haggard due to the South Carolina heat. Hailing from
Wigan, England, she's been sent away to ease the financial burden on her middle-class family. An old
family friend, the highly esteemed and enigmatic estate owner Douglas Elling, receives her. The novel
opens three years before this, with a tragic fire at Douglas' home that kills his wife and daughter; he watches
helplessly as his staff prevents him from rushing into the flames. By the time Abby arrives, Douglas is
embittered and reclusive. Her early impression is that he's also a bigot; he yells at her for making physical
contact with a black stable hand. Then readers learn that he was once involved in liberating captives from
slave ships and continues to shelter black refugees. As Abby and Douglas' relationship develops, she learns
more about his position in the town. She reluctantly attends the Cunningham ball, where she meets the
striking, if manipulative, Cora Rae Cunningham, who has designs on Douglas. As politics and desire heat
up, Abby and Douglas tread a precarious path, but will it bring them together or tear them apart? This is a
promising debut from Friedland, who writes with an enviable emotional intuitiveness. Her prose bores to
the center of her characters' psychologies to reveal their drives and desires: "He knew the minute he laid
hands on her, he couldn't say why, that his new mission was to rescue her, not only from the immediate
incident, but from whatever it was that had pushed her from her British home, ragged and defeated, to
him....Maybe at last he could save just one person who was actually relevant to the story of his own life."
This results in engaging characters that readers will care about. Overall, this is a well-researched novel that
vividly and believably reanimates the aristocratic world of South Carolina's historical planter class.
A vibrant, solidly entertaining story that will seize readers from the first page and not let go.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Friedland, Jacqueline: TROUBLE THE WATER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528959753/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=71deb781.
Accessed 23 June 2018.
6/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1529777769312 2/2
Gale Document Number: GALE|A528959753
Trouble the Water
BY JACQUELINE FRIEDLAND
Find & buy on
Charleston, South Carolina, is a colorful place in 1845: a bustling harbor, beautiful flowers and orchards, young women in bright dresses. What strikes teenager Abigail Milton, however, newly arrived from the small town of Wigan, outside Manchester, England, is that slavery is still legal in the United States, and that casts a pall over her impressions of her new life. That, and her host Douglas Elling, her father’s best friend from childhood, is a grumpy, unwelcoming man. Abigail’s parents sent her to Charleston in the hopes that the wealthy Elling would provide her a better life than they can, as they struggle with debt and poor health. Abigail does blossom under the tutelage of governess Larissa, though she also rails against the airs and facades expected of young women. She also discovers the truth behind Elling’s behavior, brought about by the devastating deaths of his wife and daughter three years earlier.
Friedlander’s debut novel tackles some big issues, from slavery and abolition to a young woman’s sexual trauma. These are worthy themes, but Friedlander tends to tell, rather than show, what her characters are thinking and feeling, making for abrupt shifts in tone and mood as well as less-than-believable actions. Secondary characters, especially, are not drawn with any subtlety, and most come across as unlikable caricatures, with no redeeming qualities, meant to represent entire social classes. In marked contrast is the subplot of a runaway slave, in which the secretive and quiet assistance along the road to freedom is portrayed with far more depth in fewer words. Readers will get a mixed picture of the time and the people in Charleston and Wigan, with occasional beautifully rendered moments.
« PREVIOUS REVIEWNEXT REVIEW »
Share this review
Details
PUBLISHER
SparkPress
PUBLISHED
2018
PERIOD
Early United States
CENTURY
19th Century
PRICE
(US) $16.95
ISBN
(US) 9781943006540
FORMAT
Paperback
PAGES
346
Review
APPEARED IN
HNR Issue 84 (May 2018)
REVIEWED BY
Helene Williams
Booklist Review
Adult Books - Fiction - Historical Fiction
Add to List requires login with username and password
Download function available only to subscribers
Print function available only to subscribers
Email function available only to subscribers
Ebook
Trouble the Water.
Friedland, Jacqueline (author).
May 2018. 350p. SparkPress, paperback, $16.95 (9781943006540); SparkPress, e-book, $9.95 (9781943006557).
REVIEW.
First published April 27, 2018 (Booklist Online).
Debt may have crippled the Milton family, but 17-year-old Abigail has a chance at a new life. Her parents send her to America, where she is taken in by Douglas Elling, a wealthy businessman in Charleston’s shipping industry. It takes Abby some time to adjust to her new life of finery, with its debutante balls, heavy hoop skirts, and Southern hospitality, but her benefactor remains a mystery. After a terrible tragedy, Douglas has kept his inner life under wraps. When Abby overhears him making a dangerous plan to help a pregnant slave run away from their neighbor’s estate, she can’t believe the risks he’s willing to take. She offers to help, and her benefactor soon becomes something far more important. Set twenty years before the start of the Civil War, Friedland’s debut envelops readers in the whisper network of the abolitionists, the complicated social structure of the aristocracy and their help, and the bravery of those willing to make changes. Fans of Paulette Jiles and Julia Quinn will adore this triumphant novel of intrigue, secrecy, and redemption.
— Stephanie Turza
TROUBLE THE WATER BY JACQUELINE FRIEDLAND – BOOK REVIEW
May 7, 2018 by Patty
I was pleased to accept Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland for review at no charge. I do love an historical fiction book and as I’ve mentioned I’m trying to read more books based on American history.
ABOUT TROUBLE THE WATER:
Abigail Milton was born into the British middle class, but her family has landed in unthinkable debt. To ease their burdens, Abby’s parents send her to America to live off the charity of their old friend, Douglas Elling. When she arrives in Charleston at the age of seventeen, Abigail discovers that the man her parents raved about is a disagreeable widower who wants little to do with her. To her relief, he relegates her care to a governess, leaving her to settle into his enormous estate with little interference. But just as she begins to grow comfortable in her new life, she overhears her benefactor planning the escape of a local slave―and suddenly, everything she thought she knew about Douglas Elling is turned on its head.
Abby’s attempts to learn more about Douglas and his involvement in abolition initiate a circuitous dance of secrets and trust. As Abby and Douglas each attempt to manage their complicated interior lives, readers can’t help but hope that their meandering will lead them straight to each other. Set against the vivid backdrop of Charleston twenty years before the Civil War, Trouble the Water is a captivating tale replete with authentic details about Charleston’s aristocratic planter class, American slavery, and the Underground Railroad.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jacqueline Friedland holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from NYU Law School. She practiced as an attorney in New York before returning to school to receive her MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in New York with her husband, four children, and a tiny dog.
For more on Jacqueline or her writing, go to www.jacquelinefriedland.com or follow her on Facebook
MY OPINION:
Douglas Elling has been secretly helping to do what he can to halt the slave trade in his adopted home town of Charleston, S.C. He thinks he can walk a fine line with his neighbors but soon learns that it’s not as easy a thing to do as he first thought and he pays a heavy price for his abolition work. His life changes and so does he but his life will soon change again when the daughter of a childhood friend comes to stay with him.
Abby was sent away from England by her parents. Her family has fallen on hard times. She has been working long hours, taking care of her siblings. Her temperament is changing and it worries her father so he has turned to his old friend for help. Abby is not happy about the exile but she cannot disobey.
Her arrival in America and first meeting with her new guardian is less than auspicious. He basically hands her off to a governess and ignores her. Until she is injured and he realizes he’s been well, an ass. After that point they start to slowly connect. But forces conspire to keep them apart.
This was a intriguing take on a romance novel to be sure. The familiar themes are there but surrounded by a very serious issue – slavery. The inclusion of that makes the tale rise above the typical boy meets girl tale. The story shows a little of the arrogance of slave owners and their thoughts on “their people” without getting too graphic. The side plot of a trip on the Underground Railroad was a thrilling part of the novel and I would have loved more of it.
Ms. Friedland knows how to set a scene and do it well. As a reader you feel like you are there with the characters whether there is at a coming out ball at a Charleston plantation or a slave running in fear from that same place. It’s a real skill for an author to bring her reader into time and place like that and I always appreciate the ones that do it well.
No matter the dark underpinnings this is a love story at its heart and that aspect follows the expected path of the romance novel; boy meets girl. boy and girl hate each other, boy and girl realize they love each other, boy does something stupid, blah blah – you know the routine. I will say that Trouble the Water rises above the routine even in this aspect as the characters are more than caricatures for the most part and the plot is entertaining.
Title: Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland
Publisher: SparkPress
Genre: Historical, Romance
Length: 353 pages
Book Rating: C
MAY 7, 2018
Review:
Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland is a historical romance that does not sugarcoat the realities of life in pre-Civil War Charleston.
Abigail “Abby” Milton’s family has fallen on hard times and in order to ease their financial burden, she is sent to Charleston to live with family friend, Douglas Elling. Following an arduous and long sea journey, she is dismayed by her benefactor’s disheveled appearance and gruff demeanor. Uncertain of what the next year will bring for her, Abby nonetheless settles into life on Douglas’s estate and forms a friendship with Gracie Cunningham who lives on a neighboring plantation. Douglas slowly emerges from his grief and anger from his wife and daughter’s tragic death three years earlier but considering her experiences before leaving England, can Abby bring herself to trust these changes?
Abby is a prickly young woman who is not overly outspoken despite her independent thinking. She has good reason to mistrust men but she is quick to jump to conclusions and she is somewhat immature. Abby is smart and capable but she easily conforms to society’s expectations of acceptable behavior for women in the time period.
With freedmen working for him, Douglas is a bit of an aberration in pro-slavery Charleston yet his experiences lead him to carefully adhere to society’s rules when dealing with Negroes. After the deaths of his wife and daughter, he retreats from society and he lives a quiet, low-key life. Douglas remains withdrawn and brusque even after Abby’s arrival but he is eventually charmed by his houseguest.
The relationship between Douglas and Abby follows a very predictable path. Initially wary, after circumstances put them in close contact, their unexpected friendship leads to romance. However, underhanded machinations lead to the obligatory misunderstanding and both Douglas and Abby’s reactions to the situation are (unfortunately) exactly as expected.
Trouble the Water remains true to the time period which adds authenticity to the plot. Jacqueline Friedland’s research is absolutely impeccable and her depictions of the slave owners’ attitudes toward their slaves is realistic. The storyline also briefly highlights the Underground Railroad as one of the slaves makes the very dangerous journey to freedom.
An overall enjoyable read despite the slow pacing and clichéd romance.