Q&A With Suzanne Nelson 

I was very fortunate to read an early copy of The Librarians Of Lisbon by Suzanne Nelson which you can read my review clicking this link here https://booknotions.com/the-librarians-of-lisbon/ . I was over the moon excited when Suzanne agreed to do a Q&A with me. The Librarians Of Lisbon is one of the best books of 2025 & its available today on February 4^th! Other books Suzanne has written are for middle schoolers which are You’re Bacon Me Crazy which became a Hallmark movie, & Serendipity’s Footsteps. Suzanne has written articles about parenting for The Washington Post & has taught writing workshops for both adults and children! Please be sure to follow Suzanne on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok @suzannenelsonbooks, and check out her website, www.suzannenelson.com. If you’re interested in having Suzanne do a Zoom book talk with your book club, please visit her website to fill out a request form.

Q: Suzanne, would you please give a brief description of each of your novels starting with your historical fiction novel The Librarians Of Lisbon?

A: The Librarians of Lisbon is a World War II historical fiction novel set in Lisbon, Portugal in 1943. It’s a story of espionage, friendship, and romance—a blend of “James Bond” adventure and “Casablanca” romance. Selene Delmont and Beatrice Sullivan are librarians and best friends from Boston who are recruited to be Allied spies in Lisbon. Given separate missions that they can’t discuss with each other, they become entangled in ever-growing webs of secrets and betrayal. They must make impossible choices between their missions, their friendship, and the men they love.

Serendipity’s Footsteps is a novel that tells the journey of a single pair of pale pink shoes and how the shoes touch the lives of three young women over the span of decades, connecting them through friendship forever. Part of it also takes place in Germany during World War II.

A Tale Magnolious is a middle-grade novel about orphan Nitty Luce, her extraordinary friendship with an elephant called Magnolious, and some “rather magical” seeds. It’s set on a farm in the Midwest during the Dust Bowl and, at its heart, is about loyalty, faith, and found families.

My ten “foodie” middle-grade novels, including You’re Bacon Me Crazy, are all about tween friendship, first crushes, and fun foods! And they all have sweet “punny” titles.

Q: I know we spoke about this, but I think it’s great that you wrote a historical fiction novel that takes place in Portugal during World War II. There aren’t many books discussing Portugal’s World War II past. What made you want to have your first novel for adults be a historical fiction novel that takes place in World War II Portugal? How long did it take you to research and write The Librarians of Lisbon? 

A: Lisbon was a fascinating city during World War II. Portugal was neutral during the war, and Lisbon is a port town located along the Tagus River. The city was one of the few open escape routes for people fleeing occupied Europe and Hitler. Tens of thousands of people passed through Portugal between 1941 and 1945 (some estimates say over a million). It also became a temporary home for exiled royals, like the prince of Romania, and, for a time, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Famous artists, writers, and musicians, like Peggy Guggenheim and Marc Chagall, spent time there as well. There was a very glamorous side to the region. The Casino Estoril along the coast in Estoril was where the rich and famous went to gamble, wine and dine. There were exiled monarchs living in palaces in Sintra and socialites sipping champagne and sunbathing on Estoril’s beaches. But at the same time, there were thousands of refugees who’d arrived in Lisbon with only the clothes on their backs, having left their homes, jobs, and many of their loved ones behind in occupied Europe. Many lisboetas (Lisbon locals) welcomed refugees into their homes, but there were also hundreds of people living in overcrowded hostels. Many people didn’t have the proper paperwork they needed to leave Lisbon once they arrived. Many weren’t allowed to work in Lisbon, but they also weren’t allowed to leave. There was a black market for obtaining false papers, and oftentimes months turned into years as people waited for visas or sponsors to get them to Canada, the United States, or Brazil. So, there were these two worlds coexisting in the city—a world of glitz and glamor and one of desperation and loneliness.

Lisbon was also known as “the city of spies,” because both Axis and Allied spies moved freely about the city during this time. Members of the Gestapo drank side-by-side at the Estoril Casino with Allied spies. At the Portela Airport (now known as the Humberto Delgado airport), British and American planes sat beside German planes bearing swastikas. The atmosphere in the city was surreal—anyone could be an enemy or a friend.

As I researched Lisbon and its role in World War II, I knew it would be a fascinating setting for a novel about espionage. It was one of the few places that existed during the war where would-be enemies could mingle together in ballrooms and gambling halls with polite artifice.

I could’ve spent decades researching this novel, but I had to stop myself from going down too many rabbit holes. My research started out very broad, reading about Portugal’s neutrality, and Lisbon’s history as a city. Then, as I brainstormed plot points and characters, I zeroed in on more specific topics, like Lisbon’s spy networks, and the role that wolfram played in Portugal’s relationships with the Allied and Axis powers. Once I started drafting, I looked up even more minute details, like types of food and drinks, music, and clothing styles. Research, for me, is dismantling—seeing a castle from afar, then studying buttresses and drawbridges, then bedchambers, then floorboards and nails. I go from the large picture to the microscope. For The Librarians of Lisbon, the entire process took almost two years. I kept researching right up until the point when the manuscript was turned over to the printer.

Q: What lessons & emotions do you hope readers learn after reading The Librarians Of Lisbon? I love that the story has a mix of history, adventure and romance. A lesson that I remember is that sometimes neutrality does pose a danger, and it can help the aggressor more than the heroes and victims. 

A: My hope is that The Librarians of Lisbon will have readers feel a spectrum of emotions. Wars aren’t just fought on battlefields, and the real-life librarians and academics who worked for the Allies played an important role in defeating Hitler. They gathered information vital to turning the tide of the war, like the codebreakers of Bletchley Park. When I think of the hundreds of men and women who were aiding in the war effort “behind the scenes,” I think of the butterfly effect. The smallest act of resistance or courage can have ripple effects that have long-lasting impacts.

The value of friendship and loyalty in the face of adversity can’t be underestimated, either. Where would any of us be without our truest friends? The more I learn about war and even personal crises, too, is that as human beings, what sustains us amidst great loss and tragedy is love and friendship.

Q: I love how in the Acknowledgements Section, you wrote about how the characters are based off real people and you gave information about the real people they are based off. What books would you recommend for anyone wanting to read further about Portugal’s part in World War II? Since Luca Caldeira is based off Portugal’s Oskar Schindler Aristides de Sousa Mendes, would you ever consider writing a book about Mendes?

A: Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-1945 by Neill Lochery is a brilliant, incredibly fascinating book about Lisbon during World War II. I highly recommend starting with that one. If you’d like to learn more about the role librarians and academics played as spies during the war, check out Kathy Peiss’s Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II, and also Elyse Graham’s Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is an amazing and tragic figure in Portugal’s wartime history, and I’m so glad that, in recent years, more attention has been paid to his incredible story. In July of 2024, the “Casa do Passal” museum opened in Cabanas de Viriato, Carregal do Sal, Portugal. The museum was also Sousa Mendes’s birthplace. It pays homage to Sousa Mendes and his efforts to save thousands of refugees. I would love to visit the museum someday but haven’t been yet. In the meantime, there are virtual exhibits you can check out here: https://fundacaoaristidesdesousamendes.pt/

I haven’t considered writing a novel specifically about Sousa Mendes, but that’s a great idea! I’ll give it some thought. 

Q: Was it an easy transition going from writing middle grade novels You’re Bacon Me Crazy & Serendipity’s Footsteps to then writing The Librarians Of Lisbon for adults?

A: Serendipity’s Footsteps had elements of World War II history in it, and even though it’s a young adult novel, readers see one of the three characters grow from a young woman into an old woman. Writing that book definitely helped to pave the way for this one. I drew from Dust Bowl history, too, when I wrote A Tale Magnolious. Researching different time periods and events in history has been a part of my writing process for a long time, and I love it. I also dabbled in writing adult short stories well before I started writing novels, so the language and structure felt natural.

For me, what’s particularly exciting about writing for adults is that I can make romances and relationships more mature. I can also address more adult themes. It feels free to write for this audience.

Q: What was it like having You’re Bacon Me Crazy become a Hallmark movie? If/when Hollywood does an adaptation of The Librarians Of Lisbon, who would be your dream cast to play the characters you created?

A: Having You’re Bacon Me Crazy made into a Hallmark movie was so much fun! The movie came out in April of 2020, right after everyone entered lockdown for COVID. I was so grateful to Hallmark and Scholastic Entertainment for creating such a sweet, positive romance to give audiences something to smile about during that time. It was completely surreal to see my name on the screen as well!

If The Librarians of Lisbon was turned into a movie, what a fantastic adventure that would be! My dream cast would be Gal Gadot as Selene, Saoirse Ronan as Bea, Henry Cavill as Agent Gable, and Theo James as Luca Caldeira. I think it would be so much fun to see all of them together, and they’re all such great actors when it comes to drama, suspense, and action. 

Q: Is the book you are currently writing right now another historical fiction novel? If so, can you give any details?

A: I’m currently revising a funny, middle-grade novel about a blended family’s disastrous “familymoon” to Yellowstone National Park (We’re still working on an official title! Let me know if you have ideas!). I’m also working on a young adult romance and brainstorming another adult historical fiction novel. I can’t say anything about the next historical fiction novel yet, as it’s still very much in its early stages, but I’m very excited about it. I love researching and writing historical fiction and hope to write many more books in this genre if I can.

Q: What was it like writing articles on Parenting for The Washington Post? It sounds like a dream come true! What advice would you give anyone wanting to submit work to The Washington Post? 

A: Writing articles on parenting was a lot of fun, and I’d love to do more someday if I have the time. It’s been several years since I’ve written a piece for The Washington Post, but there used to be an online form for pitching article ideas. I’m not sure if that’s still the case, to be honest. But my advice to anyone wanting to submit work would be the same for submitting anywhere. Make sure you follow their guidelines, and persist, persist, persist! Keep submitting and don’t give up!