Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sam Thomas

Sam Thomas has a PhD in history with a focus on Reformation England and recently leaped from the tenure track into a teaching position at a secondary school near Cleveland, Ohio.

His new novel is The Midwife's Tale.

From his Q & A at The Fiction Reboot:

On your webpage you say The Midwife’s Tale was inspired by a real midwife named Bridget Hodgson. What made you decide to take on this particular figure? Were there any challenges in translating her story into the mystery format?

I chose Bridget because the historical Bridget was so freaking awesome. She was a rich and powerful woman, who clearly had a high opinion of herself. She was kind enough to remember her godchildren in her will, but prideful enough to give all her god-daughters the name “Bridget” after herself. (She also named her own daughter “Bridget.”)

The last thing you want in a protagonist is someone who won’t speak truth to power, and it seemed pretty clear that Bridget would do that.

The translation was not terribly difficult because there is so much I didn’t know about her. I had perhaps a half dozen references to her, scattered over forty years. That gave me a lot of room with which to work. And because midwives were so integral to crime and punishment, she made for ...[read on]
View the trailer for The Midwife’s Tale, and learn more about the book and author at Sam Thomas's website, blog, and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: The Midwife’s Tale.

The Page 69 Test: The Midwife's Tale.

Writers Read: Sam Thomas.

--Marshal Zeringue