Conversation with an Author

Mershon Niesner knows her Nebraska. Specifically, the pioneer days of Nebraska. Her first book, The Bootmaker’s Wife, immerses readers in the day-to-day life of Elizabeth Horn, recently married and living life in the Nebraskan Sandhills. Towards the end of the book, Elizabeth meets an enigmatic old lady named Angie, whose bee hives produce not only honey but a friendship between the two women.

Fast forward a year and now Angie has her own story. Angie, The Bee Lady is Niesner’s latest historical fiction novel and where The Bootmaker’s Wife takes on domesticity on the prairie, Angie the Bee Lady takes on survival on the prairie.

Angie’s journey starts when she is ten, traveling across the country with her family as part of a wagon train. Precocious and perky, Angie is separated from her family and her subsequent survival takes many twists and turns. She learns about living off the land from the local Pawnee Tribe, then in turn, teaches an uninformed mother how to live off the land. Angie finally gets her own piece of land with a found family who share a simple yet satisfying life. Angie meets good guys and bad guys in her travels, gains wisdom and confidence all while remaining a bit of a loner, her only true companions being the ever-present bees. This well-researched story is about resilience that leads to contentment. The anticipatory meeting with Elizabeth from The Bootmaker’s Wife is a perfect bookend to an emotional and uplifting story.

Niesner sat down with Coastal Breeze News to answer some questions on Angie and her writing process. 

Q: Angie shows up at the very end of The Bootmaker’s Wife. What is it that gave you the idea that Angie needed to have her own story?

Because I wondered about her. I was so curious because it didn't make sense, you know? Here’s this elderly lady who lives alone in a dugout in the middle of the Sandhills. How does she survive? There has to be more to this story, but I didn't want it to become her story in The Bootmaker's Wife. I just wanted her to be this kind of woo-woo character to add some depth. But then at the end of The Bootmaker’s Wife, I thought “I gotta know more about Angie.”

Q: How did the story arc for Angie come about? Because her journey is quite extraordinary.

In this case, I knew the ending to Angie’s story because it’s revealed in The Bootmaker’s Wife. So, I had to think how Angie got to the Sandhills of Nebraska because according to The Bootmaker’s Wife, Angie has no friends, no family… nothing, really. So, I started there. She got to the Sandhills the same way that Elizabeth did; it started with a wagon train. So here she is, this little kid who ventures off the trail. The wagon train moves on without her and she is discovered by the Pawnee. I picked them because they were native to that exact area. Little did I know before I wrote that the Pawnee is an incredibly complex and advanced culture. I couldn’t get into that from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old, so I could only do as much as that age range could handle.

Q: Was it a deliberate choice to take Angie out of the Pawnee environment and move to the next phase of her journey with Mary and Ralph?

Yes, it was. It would be incredibly unusual for a white girl to be with the Pawnee Tribe, first of all. And how she gets to the next step was common back in that day. Trying to avoid any spoilers, but it was a time when most women had some kind of help unless they were very poor. And of course, Mary was poor in Nebraska but back home, her family had loads of help, so she was in really deep water out here in the wilderness.

Q: This part of Angie’s life was filled with conflict and drama. But the next part of her journey with Al turns the script around. 

It does. But still, it always goes back to staying true to how we found Angie in The Bootmaker’s Wife… we find her alone, and there is no indication she has been anything but alone. So, while she and Al have a relationship, it isn’t a romantic one. Angie’s always been alone, and Al has his own history. It just wasn’t in the cards for them to be romantically involved.

Q: What kind of research did you have to do?

There's a lot of research to historical fiction. I was reading a little quip about somebody who was talking about writing historical fiction, and they said, “You write a sentence, and then you look up something, and then you write a sentence, and you look up something.” I found this this fantastic book that was written by a woman many, many, many years ago who lived with the Pawnee. She learned their language, and there were elders there who were still alive at the time, just a little beyond the timeline of Angie’s story. It’s an amazing book, incredibly detailed. And that was the hardest part of the research because you had to sift through all this detail. But it was so authentic. When I described what they wore, where they lived, and the whole thing of how some were left behind in the winter, all that was as factual as I could make it. I don't know how people ever wrote a book before, before Google. I really don't. Especially in historical fiction, because just everything you need to know is there. It's just a matter of finding it. How do you make fire? Well, as a writer, you learn. First, I had to learn how to find flint. It could be along a river bank somewhere, but it's hidden behind the rock. And then how do you use that flint? You have to look up every detail. What do they grow and how do they preserve it? How do you make pemmican and what do they put the pemmican in? Every detail has to be researched. 

Q: You are working on a new novel already!

I am! It’s (Mostly) Good to be Martha is contemporary fiction. It’s about an elderly woman in assisted living who’s feisty and gets into trouble. It’s a fun book. The idea came from a specific event. I was at a book club for The Bootmaker’s Wife and the women, aged 60 to 85, asked me what was next. I told them about Angie, the Bee Lady, and they asked, “What about after that?” And I was just sitting there looking at these ladies who were so perky and energetic and said, “My next book is going to be about a feisty older woman,” and they literally cheered! And I went home and started writing it – I was so energized.

Q: What do you want people to take away from Angie, the Bee Lady?

I want people to have an opportunity to visit Nebraska because I love Nebraska, and that's where I grew up. And people have very negative impressions of Nebraska - I've heard a thousand times that it’s the most boring state in the country. Well, it isn't when you get off the beaten path. I spent a week by myself in the Sandhills, and it was amazing. I have actually been exactly where Angie lived and where the bootmaker's wife lived. I walked that land and saw Bean Creek where she lived. I want them to see a different view of Nebraska and just experience this time. It was a fascinating time in history.

Q: Where can everyone go to get Angie, The Bee Lady?

The is a book launch on October 29th at Sunshine Booksellers South Collier location. I'll be there to meet people and sign copies. There will be some refreshments. It’s also available on Amazon and Keep in Touch. And, of course, I am available to come and talk at any of the local book clubs.