Q&A With Gail Crowther 

A few months ago, I finished reading an excellent nonfiction book titled Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe which is available today on May 26^th! Gail is an author, researcher and academic. Some of Gail’s other works are A Year’s Turning: Sylvia Plath in Devon (co-authored with Elizabeth Sigmund), The Haunted Reader and Sylvia Plath, Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, & Dorothy Parker in Hollywood. 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Gail! Would you like to give a brief description of each of your books beginning with Marilyn and Her Books? 

A: Hello, thanks for inviting me to Book Notions. 

Marilyn and her Books is an attempt to center the role of reading in Marilyn’s life and to show the vital role that it played for her both personally and professionally. It looks at the contents of her personal library, but also some of the writers that she met and some of the writers that she influenced.

Dorothy Parker in Hollywood explores the years that Parker spent working in the film industry and the extent of her political activism, as well as all her japes and jaunts around town.

Three-Martin Afternoon at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton is a dual biography exploring how these two women were trailblazers with both their writing and their lives. 

The Haunted Reader and Sylvia Plath is an exploration of why Plath’s readers become so uniquely attached to her.

A Year’s Turning: Sylvia Plath in Devon focuses on the year Plath spent in North Tawton. Elizabeth Sigmund writes affectionately about their friendship while my section concentrates on Plath’s life and work throughout that year.

Q: How much time does it take you to research and write all your books? What is your advice for anyone wanting to write nonfiction like you do? 

A: It depends on the book, really, and what existing knowledge I already have, or research that I have already carried out. But generally, my publisher likes me to take about a year. And I like this time frame too. It means the whole process is immersive and intense and I think that keeps my writing and my pace quite fresh. Following that though is the production phase of editing and copy editing, and so forth, so the whole process is usually approaching two years.

I think to write non-fiction, you need to have a strong framework and know what story you want to tell. You can have all the facts in the world, but if you can’t do anything interesting with them, then you run the danger of writing a dry, list-like book. I like to have a tight focus and tell the story within that lens, whether that is within a time period, or a place, or a particular angle.

Q: I love the fact that you wrote a book about what Marilyn enjoyed reading and included the authors she met and the impact the books had on her acting career and life. Not many authors who write about Marilyn cover what she liked to read. What do you hope readers learn after reading Marilyn and Her Books? 

A: I hope readers, like I did, will re-appraise Marilyn. My aim was to recast her as a serious reader, as an intelligent and active reader, and as a woman who was constantly misunderstood. I argue that much of this is down to misogyny and although it would be nice to think this was something that happened back in the 1950s and 60s, as the book shows, misogyny towards Marilyn is alive and kicking today, as indeed is the patriarchy.

Q: Which sections of Marilyn and Her Books were the favorite parts you researched and wrote? It was hard for me to choose a favorite section! The book kept me engrossed from beginning to end and I felt as though I were with Marilyn as she browsed the books at the various bookstores or even meeting some authors etc. 

A: Thank you so much for these lovely words. I actually enjoyed researching and writing the whole book. I enjoyed the prologue and epilogue where I got to write in a different style, daydreaming my way around her house. But exploring Marilyn’s encounters with writers and writing about her contemporaries was fascinating. The sections dealing with why Marilyn is doubted as a reader made me sad and infuriated. I really hope this book will help to set this story straight.  

Q: Can you reveal the details of the next book you are currently researching and writing or is it too early? 

A: My next book is a biography of a novel exploring Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. I am currently writing this and expect it will be published later next year.

Q: I read in your bio that you divide your time in London and Northern England! I can’t wait to travel someday! Where are your favorite places in London and Northern England to see that you recommend to tourists coming to England? 

A: I think The Lake District where I live is a very beautiful part of the country, and in Cumbria in general. We have the sea, mountains, and lakes. It’s all going on here! London is just a great city to wander about, through streets, by the river, pick up a guide and do a literary tour, visit all the book shops, follow blue plaques on the houses, have a drink at The French House in Soho with its fabulous literary history!

Q: Would you please provide links to your social media accounts and website so the readers of the blog and I can follow and subscribe? 

A: Of course! Please do follow me – it is lovely to have a readerly community on socials.

My website is www.gailcrowther.com

I am most active on Instagram. It is currently set to private but please do just request a follow https://www.instagram.com/crowther_gail/

On X @gail_crowther

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gailcrowther.bsky.social

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Substack: https://substack.com/@thedisquietingmuses?utm_source=global-search