saint mary’s aluma to publish second novel

By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN s enior news writer

after publishing her first novel, “The essence of an hour,” in 2021, susan Furber ‘14 is preparing to release her sequel on may 25.

Furber’s second novel, “we were very merry,” will continue the narrative of lillie carrigan as she attends college and meets the man she will eventually marry. however, over the course of several years, this relationship will unravel.

as Furber was writing “The essence of an hour,” she claims she felt a deep personal connection to its content and herself as a young writer.

second novels, primarily due to the fact she was more confident in herself as a writer after her first novel was published.

“i felt much more assured of myself going into that i didn’t feel as i suppose, as i said, as precious about it. i’ve been much more open to sharing it with people, which is something i never could do with the first novel,” she said. “The first novel was always something very closely kept to my heart, pretty much up until it was published.” especially in the university sector right now.” graff anchored the discussion around covid-19.

“i definitely think that the pandemic has played a big role in raising awareness and public consciousness, and people talking about labor questions and essential workers. a nd the national conversation in the last few years has been much more see labor PAGE 3

“even though the first novel is set in the 1940s, it is deeply autobiographical in many ways — or at least an imagined sense of autobiography,” she said. “i felt very precious about it. it was very precocious book.” when she reflected back on this novel, Furber describes how much she still had to learn as a writer.

“it is, i think looking back on it, a very ‘first novel,’” she said. “i’m learning things and i don’t really know how to express things yet.”

Furber noted a distinct difference between writing her first and

From the time she wrote the first draft of “The essence of an hour” when she was still a 19-year-old saint mary’s student, Furber said she planned for her protagonist to appear in multiple novels because of the strength of her character.

“For the second novel, i always had this idea that the story would continue,” Furber said. “From the time i’ve written it at 19. i knew this character of lily and her voice was so electric. i knew i didn’t want to let her go and i didn’t want to let her story go.” one of the new character developments in “we were very merry” is the deeper relationship between lillie and her friend mallorie. according to Furber, this type of see auThor PAGE 4

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