Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Patricia Ward (Cherished), conducted by YABC Staff Reviewer, Jan Farnworth!
Meet the Author:
Patricia Ward was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, moving to the United States when she was eighteen. She is the author of The Bullet Collection (Graywolf Press, 2003) and Skinner Luce (Talos Press, 2016). Ward is also a book artist specializing in miniature books and dioramas. She lives with her family in Vermont. The Cherished is her first young adult novel, and you can find her at www.patriciasarrafianward.com.
About the Book: The Cherished
For fans of White Smoke, The Hazel Wood, and Wilder Girls comes an original, hypnotizing horror thriller in the vein of Midsommar, as one girl inherits a mysterious house from her estranged grandmother—and a letter with sinister instructions.
Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.
Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.
The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?
But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.
~Author Chat~
Jan: Where did you draw your inspiration for this thriller?
I remember waking up in the middle of the night with the seminal nighttime scene at Gammy’s house unfolding in my head—the shouting, the terror, the starry sky. I envisioned the fields under the moonlight and the dark shape of the barn and house, the same setting in the book. That summer, we had just moved to Vermont, and I was enchanted by the landscape since I’d never lived somewhere so rural. Of course, being me, as I biked through lush, flowery Vermont meadows, I found myself imagining something ominous beneath the pleasant landscape. The clicking that grasshoppers make when they fly became the threatening sound of magical creatures. Every old barn I saw held the possibility of ugly, frightening secrets.
So I’d say the landscape clearly was a source of inspiration, but when I consider your question, so was the actual experience of moving to Vermont. It awakened familiar hurts and anxieties. Do I belong here? Is this home, at last? I’ve moved around my whole life. I was born and raised in Beirut during the civil war, and although we vowed we’d never leave no matter how bad it got, eventually we were forced to do just that. Adjusting to a new culture, suffering from nostalgia, coping with past trauma, always yearning for home—these experiences inevitably find their way into my books and get re-examined and reframed. In The Cherished, the main character, Jo, has grown up feeling out of place, tormented by a past trauma she can’t quite recall. The journey she makes to Vermont becomes, fundamentally, about discovering who she really is and where she belongs.
Jan: Did this book involve lots of research to write?
I didn’t do very much conscious research, if that makes sense. My roamings around the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont gave rise to the story, and once I realized this was the book I was writing, I just roamed even more. I also visited plenty of graveyards, looking at all the names and imagining life back in the day, just as Jo does in the book. This area of the country is truly a stunning, contradictory, wild, and beautiful place. I hope that at least some of its specialness comes through in the book.
I also happened to be reading about immigration to Vermont, which ended up informing the story in unexpected ways. On the surface, the topic of immigration is only glancingly explored in the book, but when you read more closely, there’s a whole subtext in both the human and supernatural worlds that’s vital to the themes of belonging and identity.
Jan: Who is the artist for the cover? Is there a special meaning to it for the story?
The artist is Katerina Marchenko, an embroidery artist based in Moscow. Yes, the image on the cover is not a painting—it’s embroidery! I was so pleased when HarperCollins told me this was the artist they had selected, because this art form ties in so beautifully to the book. The main character, Jo, experiments with freehand embroidery and sewing, making art pieces and decorating her clothes. For Jo, sewing is instinctive and necessary, a means of self-discovery and self-preservation. It connects her directly to Gammy, and thus also to her father, and by the end comes to represent a tangible commitment to her destiny. Her embroidery is also how she defines her own identity, altering her clothes or making pieces no one understands in defiance of the bland, uncomfortable, narrow-minded environment in which she is being raised. Embroidery is such an essential element in the book, and having this represented on the cover is really special.
Jan: Can you tell us more about Cherished and why it is a young adult versus an adult story.
When I first started writing this book, Jo was actually in her late twenties. Then she became a mother traveling with her teenaged daughter to the old house. Then, at last, she became the daughter. I think Jo ended up a teenager because the story is so very much about the struggle to discover where you fit in the world, which goes hand-in-hand with growing up. The commitment Jo is asked to make is drastic and terrifying and life-altering, and I think it’s more compelling to lay that choice before a young person who is on the verge of adulthood with numerous possible paths before her.
Jan: What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I love the phase when a story is coming together in my head, and then writing the first notes, and then scenes, then the first complete draft. The creation process is so rich and rewarding and fun. I end up awake half the night with my head swirling, the story just running like a film reel. It runs and runs, and weeks go by, and it feels so joyous and exciting. If I could just stay in that phase forever and skip the whole revision process, I would!
Jan: How long did it take to write Cherished and get it published?
I had the first vision about the nighttime terror in the summer of 2016, and I believe I sent my agent the first completed draft in late 2018. Then came a few rounds of revisions before he sent it out, which took some time. I got word that HarperCollins wanted to buy it in May 2021, and it’s being published in 2023. So from start to finish, seven years, which I have to say is a very fast turnaround for me. My past two books took many more years to write and sell.
Jan: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I would stick with fantasy/horror/supernatural, hands down—especially stories set in our reality, but skewed. I love the flexibility of being able to explore themes through an otherworldly lens. The distortion deepens the themes and ultimately makes them more poignant. Plus, it’s just more interesting to write.
Jan: What is your favorite snack when writing?
Does coffee count as a snack? It’s most often what I have when I’m writing. I do take a lot of breaks during which I might stare at the fridge and pantry shelves, but I’m not much of a snacker, and I usually walk away empty-handed.
Jan: What do you do when you procrastinate?
Lately I’ve been working on puzzles. It’s an extremely absorbing, top-notch way to procrastinate, more fun than other methods, such as housecleaning or organizing drawers. I also read tons of news, or do word puzzles, or suddenly decide it’s time to repair that thing that’s been broken for years. I procrastinate a LOT. When I finally settle into work, things flip, and I keep going till I drop.
Jan: Can you share what’s next on the horizon?
I’m super excited to be working on a new novel for HarperTeen. It’s about a curse that’s inflicted suffering for generations because of a hideous crime that never saw justice . . . I’m still in the creation phase I described above and enjoying it a lot!
Title: The Cherished
Author: Patricia Ward
Release Date: 4/18/2023
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: YA horror
Age Range: 13-17
