And then quite suddenly it all stopped: the buzzing, the chills, the throbbing of her heart. It was finished, over. The dog, sensing something, pricked up her ears and swiveled her head around to look at Lenore. But Lenore did not, could not, return the look. The dog licked Lenore’s arm. Nothing. The dog put her head back down and once more rested it on her paws. After a while Lenore’s body began to cool; still the dog did not move or attempt to jump down. She only settled herself more comfortably in Lenore’s lap. She could wait.
YONA ZELDIS MCDONOUGH is the author of three previous novels and the editor of two essay collections. Her fiction, essays, and articles have appeared in Bride’s, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Harper’s Bazaar, Lilith, Metropolitan Home, More, The New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, the Paris Review, and Redbook. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two children.
READERS GUIDE
A
Wedding
IN
GREAT NECK
Yona Zeldis McDonough
READERS GUIDE
READERS GUIDE
A CONVERSATION WITH
YONA ZELDIS McDONOUGH
Q. How do you set about writing a new book?
A. For me, it always starts with the voice. I literally hear someone whispering urgently in my ear, saying, “Listen, I want to tell you something. Something important. I want you to write it down. And I want you to get it right.” And the character begins to tell me his or her story. Often, I feel like I am not writing so much as transcribing; I am the vessel, not the creator. This doesn’t happen all the time but when it does it’s a marvelous feeling.
Q. A Wedding in Great Neck is told in several voices; whose was the first you heard?
A. Lincoln’s. I had such a kinship with him; he started speaking to me immediately. Even though I am not a man, a former substance abuser or divorced, I just felt like I understood him!
Q. So you begin with character?
A. Yes. Character, in my view, determines plot. If you draw your characters well, everything else falls into place. There’s a logic to it; what a given character will or won’t do is the engine that drives the book. I recently reread John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I was struck by how that novel is the perfect demonstration of this idea. Lenny and George are so well-defined that everything they do, the whole tragic arc of the story, issues from their characters. Lenny is big, strong but potentially dangerous; he is also unaware of his power to do harm. First he kills a mouse, then a puppy, and finally a woman. George is the one who cares for him and protects him. His final act is the ultimate expression of that caring.
Q. What other elements do you consider essential?
A. After character, I’m keen on place. Where are these characters? What do they see, feel, smell, hear? Locating them in a credible environment and watching how they respond to that goes a long way to bringing them to life.
Q. Why did you set this book in Great Neck? Do you have a special connection to the place?
A. My dear friend Constance Marks (the book is dedicated to her) grew up in Great Neck, and I’ve visited a few times. I see it as a kind of quintessentially aspirational, American place, and I find that fascinating. There’s a lot of money there, and money engenders longing. Lincoln feels it keenly, and to some extent, I do too.
Q. What is a typical workday like for you?
A. I don’t really have a typical day. When I am writing a novel, I try to keep my hand in it every day so it doesn’t dry up on me. Even if I can only write two pages a day, that’s something. I tell myself that two pages a day = fourteen pages a week = fifty-six pages a month. Pretty soon that adds up to a novel.
Q. Do you have a designated place to work?
A. Yes. For years, it was in the finished basement of my house. The basement had its advantages—it was quiet, it was large, and it was cool in summer and toasty in winter (I don’t claim to understand this, but there you have it). Also, my husband had built me a very grand dollhouse, which I filled with the dollhouse furniture I’d had as a child. I love that house, and when I reached an impasse in my work, I would get up and rearrange the furniture and other objects for a while to clear my head. But, despite all its advantages, it was still a basement. No natural light. When my son left for college, we did some reshuffling of rooms, and he asked if he could have the basement room; my daughter ended up in his old room, and I took hers. I had it painted a serene sky blue, and there is a window that overlooks our admittedly tiny backyard. I feel like I have brought the outside in. It’s a very peaceful place, and one that is very conducive to writing, musing and dreaming.
Q. Do you need to be alone or have absolute quiet to write?
A. Being both a lifelong New Yorker and a mom, I’d say my tolerance for noise is pretty high. I can tune most things out. I often keep my office door open; I don’t need to be sealed away. And I usually have one or two of my three dogs (all small, yappy Pomeranians, like the dog in A Wedding in Great Neck) for company while I work. They don’t ask for much; the occasional belly rub or biscuit seems to suffice.
Q. Are you working on something new?
A. Yes, I have started a new novel about an unlikely romance between a Christian widow and a Jewish widower. Although they have each lost a spouse, they have nothing else in common and clash from the moment they meet. Yet, despite their differences of both style and substance, these two find common ground and fall in love.
READERS GUIDE
READERS GUIDE
QUESTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION
1. Do you think Lincoln is a sympathetic character? Why or why not?
2. How do you view Justine’s actions on the day of the wedding? Is she justified in what she does?
3. How does Gretchen change and grow through the novel?
4. What is Lenore’s role in the family in general, and on the wedding day in particular?
5. There are several shifting points of view in this novel but Angelica’s, the bride’s, is absent. What purpose does this serve?
6. How does the dog affect the different family members?
7. What do you think will happen between Gretchen and Ennis?
8. Are you sympathetic toward Betsy? Why or why not?
9. How do you view the depiction of the wedding itself? Is there an element of satire in the way that it’s handled?
10. All the action in this novel takes place in a single day. What is the dramatic purpose of this structure?
READERS GUIDE
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