Interview: Author Suzanne Moyers
As a budding author myself, I love connecting with other published writers. I recently read ‘Til All These Things Be Done (read more about it here) by Suzanne Moyers and had the pleasure of speaking with her about what inspired her to write the book, what kind of research was necessary in order to do it, and why she decided to end Til All These Things Be Done the way she did.
Please keep in mind that this interview contains spoilers!
Molli Sébrier: Your bio in the back of the book mentions that 'Til All These Things Be Done was inspired by events that occurred in your own family. Do you feel comfortable expanding on that?
Suzanne Moyers: Sure. When I was in my teens, my grandmother, ‘Nana,’ moved from her Texas farm to our home on Long Island. One day, while walking past our living room, I witnessed Nana pleading to an empty corner: “Papa! Why did you leave?” True, she was in the early stages of dementia but the pleading expression on her face, the ache in her voice, were utterly real. I hadn’t heard her speak often of her father but knew she’d had a difficult early life, in large part because of his mysterious disappearance when she was young. As I learned more about this intriguing chapter of family history, I found myself coming up with all sorts of theories for what had happened, ideas that eventually served as the scaffolding for this novel.
MS: I loved the way you tied civil rights into the story. How did you decide to include that difficult aspect of history in your novel?
SM: My research revealed that the 1910s and early 1920s marked a time of extreme nationalism and white supremacy — not only in Texas but throughout America. Of course, the south’s long history of racial oppression offered especially fertile ground for that bigotry. I started revising this book around 2014 when the Alt-Right was rearing its ugly head. This made me think hard about how prejudice takes root. My research revealed what many of us already know: Racism is primarily taught. White supremacy isn’t the book’s main subject but it would’ve been a part of daily life in that time and place. To leave it out would’ve been dishonest. I tried to imagine how such a toxic environment would’ve impacted the developing moral consciousness of a young person. A poor, white female like Leola would never have played the white savior — in fact, Black people were taking on the mantle of social justice for themselves during that period. But Leola’s growing awareness of her culture’s vicious hypocrisy is part of her character arc.
MS: As you write in the book, the KKK was oddly involved in charity, like giving money to the orphanage where the main characters end up. That said many members of the community were against the organization and we're afraid to show it. Did you find that was true in your research or is this something that you imagined happened?
SM: Besides other forms of research, I had access to a slim self-published memoir written by a woman who’d lived at the orphanage when my grandmother did. The author mentions how the local ‘Klavern’ contributed money to build a new wing for the ‘Home,’ as they called it. This was a very common form of PR for the Klan, which also sponsored Fourth of July parades, local carnivals, and Better Baby contests. Even in the north, in places like New Jersey where I live, the Klan was invited to recruit new members during church services.
Some white people in the south did organize against white supremacy. For instance, the Dallas County Citizens’ League (which I mention in the book) was a group of 5000 prominent white citizens determined to make it illegal for Klan members to hold office. Unfortunately, they weren’t very successful. In 1923, a Klan leader was elected governor of Texas.
MS: It was heartbreaking to read what happened between Maudi and Brother Giles. I think that things like this must have happened all the time in orphanages and other homes that accepted orphaned children. What made you decide to include it in the book?
SM: In the memoir I mentioned above, the author recalls an accusation made by some kids that the orphanage manager, a lay minister, was “petting” one of the other residents. The author dismisses these rumors as ‘jealousy’ over the girl’s beauty but given the fact the manager was fired soon afterward, it probably was true. I included it in the book mainly as an obstacle in Leola’s search for her father but also because, as you point out, sexual abuse was much more common than we realize.
MS: I am the great-granddaughter of immigrants and have lived as an immigrant in France for 8 years, so reading about the discrimination that Joe underwent hit very close to home. Did family members of yours experience the same thing? If so, what did they share about it?
SM: Leola’s sweetheart, Joe Belfigli, is a wholly fictional character. My ancestry is mostly Northern European, with some native American and sub-Saharan African. But during the influx of foreign refugees to America at the time, there were Italian immigrants who settled in Texas. Our nation’s population was mostly rural and provincial then, so many people were suspicious — even downright afraid — of unfamiliar cultures. This gave rise to the ‘second coming of the KKK,’ which still targeted Black Americans but now also Catholics, immigrants, and others. A young woman like Leola would not have dated outside her race but may have fallen for an Italian-American, as she does. By setting this up, I tried to give her an intimate experience of bigotry she might not have had otherwise.
MS: While I liked the ending of the book, I'm not sure I would have been as understanding as Leola was in terms of what happened with her father. What made you decide to write her character in this way?
SM: Over her lifetime, new clues about her father’s disappearance gave my grandmother a bit more understanding of why it happened. Like you, however, she had very mixed feelings about forgiving him. When given the opportunity to question Papa personally, she refused, choosing instead to bury her grief. Even as a 16-year-old, I knew those Ghost Papa episodes at the end of her life were an expression of that unresolved grief.
Here’s the thing though…
**SPOILER ALERT!!**
…around the time those ghostly hauntings began, we learned that her much younger half-brother (whom Papa sired in his sixties) had inexplicably moved from Texas, where he’d lived his whole life, to our town on Long Island. Did he hope to make contact with my grandmother but couldn’t work up the nerve? We never found out but the possibility percolated in my imagination, providing a closure to the story that my grandmother never had but that I like to think could be true.
MS: Your use of foreshadowing was excellent — you dropped clues throughout the book about what was going to happen next without giving anything away. Did you know the ending before you started writing? Or did you figure it out along the way and then go back and insert those foreshadowing moments after?
SM: See above! I did more or less know the ending I wanted to write. One of my writing teachers explained that every single scene must in some way drive the protagonist’s quest. Knowing how Leola’s quest would end made it easier to build the plot — though I did refine the resolution in the process.
MS: How much research was required to write the book? Did you spend a lot of time in libraries and online reading articles, or did you interview relatives of family members who lived in Texas in the early 20th century? Or maybe a combination of both?
SM: As EL Doctorow once said, “The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.”
I am a storyteller, first and foremost. The point of my craft is to provide readers with an emotional connection to a character and her journey. (And also to enlighten and entertain!) For this novel, I did most of my research online but also visited important landmarks from the true story, like the orphanage where my grandmother lived, which still exists as a foster care facility and her tiny hometown in east Texas. I also found a great resource in my mom, a skilled genealogist and storyteller in her own right. In the end, however, the research was less important than my protagonist’s quest for truth.
MS: What inspired you to begin writing?
SM: I’ve always spun stories in my mind but didn’t take that impulse seriously because, frankly, I undervalued my abilities, as so many women of my generation did. But after my youngest child went to kindergarten and I was contemplating a career change, I decided to capture some of those stories on paper because, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is always better to try than to regret.
MS: How big of a role do books and reading play in your life?
SM: As a child, I faced some unique stressors that often left me feeling ‘on the outside.’ Reading — learning about other places, people, and ways of being — helped me feel less lonely. As the writer, Frank McCourt says, “The mind is a palace.” For me, literature isn’t just an escape from the harsher realities of life but also a chance to imagine its more interesting possibilities.
MS: Who is your favorite author and what are you currently reading?
SM: I adore so many authors! Among my favorite historical novelists are Hilary Mantel (who was also inspired by ghosts), Geraldine Brooks, Emma Donoghue, Amy Belding Brown, and Anthony Doerr. In fact, I’m reading Geraldine Brooks’ new novel, Horse, right now. Like the others I mentioned, she has this uncanny ability to immerse the reader in unfamiliar worlds. It’s a skill I hope to emulate — perhaps a high bar to set but definitely worth the effort.
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