by Rae Meadows
Q: The existence of the orphan trains is such a fascinating yet seemingly forgotten part of American history. Rae has said that you introduced her to the subject, Jane, which sparked her to write Mercy Train. How did you hear about the orphan trains? What was your initial reaction to this piece of history?
J: I was waiting for Rae to arrive at the airport in Cleveland, and I struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me who was also waiting for her daughter. She mentioned that her daughter had done some research on the Orphan Train Movement of the early part of the twentieth century. I had never heard of the orphan trains and was fascinated and full of questions. I, of course, relayed all this to Rae in baggage claim.
R: And good thing she did! I didn’t know at the time that the orphan trains would be the basis for my next novel, but I knew instantly they had rich narrative possibilities and I needed to find out more.
Q: As Rae was writing Mercy Train, did she come to you for advice? If not, what kind of advice would you have given her in writing about a mother-daughter relationship? Rae, what advice was the most helpful to you in developing these complex characters?
J: Rae is an inspired, gifted writer who needed no advice about writing Mercy Train. The only advice I’d have given her, had she asked, is the same advice I would have given her had she been writing about balloons: make the characters interesting and make it a good story. She seems to have done exactly this without anyone’s help.
R: Although I didn’t seek advice exactly, I did use details from my mom’s life in developing these characters. For instance, I remember my mom telling me how when she first got married, she would get all done up and have a cocktail ready for my dad when he came home from work. Iris is from the same generation as my mom, and she enacts a similar scene. And then in a larger sense, my mom has told me about the great agony she felt when her mother was dying in regards to intervention and resuscitation, and this was on my mind in the flashbacks of Iris and Sam.
Q: Which character—Sam, Violet, or Iris—did each of you connect with the most? Why?
J: My younger self of fifty years ago strongly identifies with Sam in her relationship to her baby, in her procrastination and lack of focus in returning to her creative work, and in her guilt and subsequent self-chastisement over the aborted Down syndrome fetus. But it’s Iris who is closest to my own age and who has faced some of life’s tougher moments. She’s accepting and talks to herself in a down-to-earth way, without self-pity. Her self-admonishment to “buck up” is one I plan to adopt. It very much suits those of us who are facing our eighties.
“My mom has always been my most ardent suporter.”
R: Violet is very unlike how I was as a child and, in that sense, she is the most fictional of the three characters. Iris definitely has some of me in her, though she is in such a different stage of life. So, I have to say I connected most with Sam, since her character sprang from some of my experiences as a new mother, particularly the anxiety about where creative pursuits fit in after motherhood. From the outside, her life is similar to mine.
Q: Iris mentions that the relationship between her and her daughter has grown closer now that Sam is an adult. Jane and Rae, how has your relationship changed from when Rae was younger versus now?
J: When a child has become a responsible adult, there is little responsibility for the mother to guide or instruct. Rae and I are friends and, as such, tolerant of each other’s differences and all the best that friendship infers. We are each committed to a helpful, thoughtful, appreciative, and always loving relationship toward each other. Rae was an appealing, charming, loving child. She remains so to this day, only the package is taller.
R: Thanks, Mom. I think our relationship has grown into an adult friendship, which I have come to cherish and depend on. My mom is such a neat woman: an accomplished painter, a writer of lovely old-fashioned letters, a believer in alternative medicine and health long before it was fashionable, a person of great faith, a true original. As I get older, I have really come to appreciate that she finds joy in the everyday—she’s happy puttering around her house and garden. I also love that my mom had a renaissance later in life when she came into her voice, and she is unapologetic about speaking what she believes in, which makes her a great person to talk to.
Q: Rae, how difficult was it to write about the struggles of being a daughter—and a mother—knowing that your mom would eventually read it? Did you find that the writing process became harder with this in mind?
R: My mom has always been my most ardent supporter, so I didn’t hesitate in exploring the mother-daughter dynamic between these characters. Luckily my mom is not like Iris or Violet as a mother, so I wasn’t too worried that she would see herself and possibly be hurt by the book. Besides, she survived me writing about an escort service in my first novel, so I figured she would be okay with this one!
Q: As a mother, there is always that fear of having your children repeat your mistakes. What things did you try to avoid passing on to your children? What advice or wisdom have you tried to instill?
J: I don’t remember imparting any earthshaking advice. I suppose I thought to teach by example, as my own mother had. It was, of course, a given that there would be no drinking, smoking, or drugs.
R: Can I just say my mom’s first response was, “But I didn’t make any mistakes.” She was joking of course, but in a way, she’s right. I had the luxury of having a stay-at-home mom who loved being a mom and exuded contentment, and was unendingly supportive. My sisters and I were incredibly lucky. Though her advice on clean living I’m afraid I didn’t quite follow in my younger years. (Sorry, Mom!)
“My sisters and I were incredibly lucky.”
Keep on Reading
Recommended Reading
Some suggestions from Rae Meadows about books to grab after you put down Mercy Train
On Motherhood:
Unless, by Carol Shields
Anne Sexton: A Biography, by Diane Middlebrook
Pulitzer Prize Winners I Applaud:
Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
Wonderful Story Collections from Small Presses:
In the House, by Lynn K. Kilpatrick
The Pale of Settlement, by Margot Singer
The End of the Straight and Narrow,
by David McGlynn
Newly Released Gems:
The Man Who Quit Money, by Mark Sundeen
Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, by Emma Straub
Other Great Reads:
Home, by Marilynne Robinson
Driftless, by David Rhodes
Shadow Tag, by Louise Erdrich
Reading Group Questions
How much did you know about orphan trains before reading this novel? What touched you most about Violet’s story? Did reading Mercy Train make you want to learn more?
We are introduced to Violet as a rambunctious young girl living with an adventurous zeal for life—that is, until she is sent off on the orphan train. In what ways has Violet changed from a little girl to the older woman Iris remembers as her mother? Why do you think she has changed? How has she remained the same?
Which mother/daughter relationship resonated most with you? Why?
Has there ever been a time in your life when you’ve been forced to make a hard decision regarding a loved one’s health like Sam is? What do you think of the decision she ultimately made?
Do you think each of the mothers in this book represents her particular generation? What about them is specific to the environment in which they grew up?
Iris tells Sam that women don’t know what they will be like as mothers. Why do you think she tells her this? Do you think this is true? Do women really have no control over the mothers they become?
There is a running theme of identity and self throughout the novel. Iris feels that she put up a façade as a mother. Samantha loses her will to create art after having Ella. Is losing one’s identity
part of becoming a mother? Do the women in this novel think that motherhood is worth the sacrifice?
There are a lot of secrets that are kept by the women in the novel (eg., Violet’s abandonment by her mother; Iris’s trip to the Drake Hotel; Sam’s abortion). Why do you think they keep these secrets—even from those closest to them?
Are there any questions that this book brought up that you’ve ever wanted to ask your mother but couldn’t? What are they?
Iris’s reading played a big role in this novel. Are there any books that you and your mother or children have connected over? Why?
Did reading this novel make you think about your own family history? What memories did it bring up? Did it make you want to learn more about your family’s past?
Violet chooses her path and suggests being sent on the orphan train. “She wanted what her mother could never give her.” Do you think she made the right decision? How would her life have been different?
How are Violet, Iris, and Sam similar? How are they different? What do you think Ella’s inheritance will be from the family?
