Donna Hemans: On Giving Characters Control Over Their Own Stories
Donna Hemans is the author of three novels, River Woman, Tea by the Sea, and The House of Plain Truth. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Slice, Electric Literature, Ms. Magazine, The Rumpus, and Crab Orchard Review, among others. She received her undergraduate degree in English and Media Studies from Fordham University and an MFA from American University. She lives in Maryland, and is also the owner of DC Writers Room, a co-working studio for writers based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.
Donna Hemans
In this post, Donna discusses how she hoped to create a history for her family in her new literary fiction novel, The House of Plain Truth, how the industry has changed since publishing her first novel, and more!
Name: Donna Hemans
Literary agent: Sha-Shana Crichton
Book title: The House of Plain Truth
Publisher: Zibby Books
Release date: January 30, 2024
Genre/category: Literary Fiction
Previous titles: River Woman; Tea By the Sea
Elevator pitch: The House of Plain Truth is about family secrets, triggered when Pearline returns to Jamaica to help take care of her ailing father. On his deathbed, he asks Pearline to be his memory and to find her estranged siblings, leading her to search for answers about her family’s time in Cuba and why her parents hadn’t reconnected with these estranged children in 60 years.
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What prompted you to write this book?
In 1931, my paternal grandparents returned to Jamaica from Cuba, where they had been living for about 11 years. While I knew the basic fact that my grandparents and some aunts and uncles had lived in Cuba, my grandparents died long before I knew to ask—with a writer’s mindset—about the specific reasons they went to Cuba, their experiences and why they returned to Jamaica. When I set out to write the book, my goal was to understand my family’s experience in Cuba and to invent a sort of history for them. While The House of Plain Truth is not my grandparents’ story, writing and researching it helped me to understand their experiences a little bit better.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I recently found the notebook in which I first jotted down the idea, and that entry was dated August 14, 2006. I worked on the manuscript on and off over the years, finally picking it back up again around 2017. While the core idea remained the same throughout—searching for estranged siblings—the structure and the point of view changed.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Many. My first novel was published in 2002 and so much has changed since then. But the biggest surprise or learning moment is that no matter how many books you publish, each book feels like the first. Knowing a book is making its way in the world to reviewers, bookstagrammers, influencers, is still nerve wracking.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The biggest surprise was coming to terms with the fact that I wasn’t quite ready to write this book in 2006. In the first and subsequent drafts, I told Pearline’s story through her 18-year-old grandniece’s perspective. But when I shifted the perspective and gave Pearline control over her own story, everything fell into place in a surprising and satisfying way.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
First, I hope they enjoy Pearline’s story. And second, many books about the Caribbean immigrant experience focus on migration to North America and Europe but the experience of people moving among the islands is also profound. So, I hope the book generates some interest in the broader experiences of migrant communities.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Every book and every project will be different. Stay open to new processes, new ways of working.
Write a personal mission statement that articulates who you are and what you want to accomplish. It will go a long way in helping you say “yes” to what aligns with you are and say “no” to what doesn’t.
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