This week's Jen's Jewels column shines a spotlight on Sara Goodman Confino's captivating new novel, BEHIND EVERY GOOD MAN. Set against the politically charged backdrop of 1962, this story blends humor, heart, and historical insight as it follows Beverly, a determined housewife who finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the world of political campaigning. Confino's novel not only entertains but also illuminates the challenges faced by women in politics and the workplace during this pivotal era. In our interview, Sara shares fascinating details about her research process, the real-life women who inspired her characters, and how she balances comedy with more serious themes. Whether you're a history buff, a fan of strong female protagonists, or simply in search of your next engaging read, you won't want to miss this insider look at BEHIND EVERY GOOD MAN and the creative mind behind it.
Jennifer Vido: What inspired you to write a story set in the political landscape of 1962? Did any real-life historical events or figures influence the plot?
Sara Goodman Confino: I think it was a combination of factors—the first was that coming off of the heels of Don’t Forget to Write, I really enjoyed the early 1960s time period and felt that I wanted to explore the era more. Everything looked so bright and happy in pre-Kennedy assassination America (picture The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!), but under the surface, there was a lot that wasn’t as happy.
As I was researching, however, I found a few real-life women who definitely inspired pieces of the plot. Beverly is completely fictional, but Anna Wainwright is inspired by Kay Graham, who took over The Washington Post after her husband’s death (and was FABULOUSLY portrayed by Meryl Streep in The Post), and was really unique for her time period. I knew that race relations had to play a role in this election, and as I was researching the most polite, time-period appropriate way to refer to Black people (spoiler alert: there isn’t one that I’d be comfortable using in 2024), I came across Verda Freeman Welcome, who was the absolute coolest woman I’ve ever read about. She was the first Black, female state senator from Maryland, and the second in the country. She survived an assassination attempt, and actually sued the city of Baltimore and won in trying to keep an integrated park open. As I say in my author’s note, I firmly believe if she was born 75 years later, she’d be running for President right now (and would have my vote). So she’s the inspiration behind Helen Walker. And finally, as I was reading more about Kay Graham, Marie Sauer’s name kept coming up. She ran the Post’s “For and About Women” section, which later became the Style section, and I’d read a whole book about her. So she was the inspiration behind Mary Dubois. I get the comment frequently that my characters are ahead of their time, so it’s REALLY cool to find the actual ahead-of-their-time women who helped get us to where we are today.
Jen: Beverly is a strong, determined character. How did you approach developing her voice and personality, especially considering the societal expectations for women in the early 1960s?
Sara: One of my biggest pet peeves in books is doormat women. Do they exist in real life? Yes. But I want someone who takes action. I think my own motherhood journey also shaped Bev’s voice in a lot of ways. When I wrote this book, I was teaching with two little boys at home. There’s a great meme about how the forty hour workweek was designed with the idea that someone else was at home doing the cooking, cleaning, and childcare, and women today are just held to this absolutely impossible standard of holding a job (in my case two!), while also doing all of the things. And I liked the idea of Beverly doing that before her peers were too—not because she had to work, but because she realized she loved the work she was doing. And the 1960s were really a defining moment in that movement—and a big part of Bev’s journey is figuring out what roles she wants to take on in her own life. I think that’s something that women are still really trying to juggle today, so her voice, in a lot of ways, is that of me and my mom friends.
Jen: The book touches on women's issues of the time. Can you share some of the research you did to accurately portray the challenges women faced in politics and the workplace during this era?
Sara: I used a lot of family lore as my research in this. The antisemitic incident at a country club, where Bev applies for a job, only to be told that they need to fire the old receptionist first because “she’s Jewish,” actually happened to my grandmother in 1967. (I won’t name the country club because it still exists, but I may extend a certain finger when I drive by it!) And my aunt and uncle were a huge part of my research for my books in the 1960s. I talked at length to my aunt about societal expectations for women (she also explained girdles and how you did your hair before you had a hair dryer!). I think a lot of pop culture probably seeped into this as well, from a League of Their Own to The Post and Mrs. Maisel and everything in between.
Some of the most interesting research (to me) came from my friend, Jessica Markham, who is a lawyer at an all-female family law firm. She took a day down at the law library and pulled every Maryland divorce code from 1962 to make sure we got everything right. And some of the laws were WILD. Women could own property if it was transferred to them (like through a will), but couldn’t buy it themselves without a man. So Bev can’t buy Larry out of the house when he threatens to sell. While a judge would likely let her keep the house, legally, Larry is allowed to sell it out from under her. And the fact that Beverly can’t even get a credit card of her own, let alone her own place to live means that she’s entirely dependent on her soon-to-be ex-husband or her father. Also a divorce took eighteen months if she couldn’t prove infidelity and her word isn’t good enough for court. So some of the challenges that women faced made life for a divorcee astronomically harder than it is today.
Jen: The story has both humorous and heartfelt elements. How do you balance comedy and more serious themes in your writing?
Sara: My debut novel was the fifth one that I wrote. The first three books, I think I thought I was writing the great American novel, and stayed away from humor. It wasn’t until the fourth (a comedy about teaching that never sold bud did land me my goddess of an agent), that I realized, I’m funny. You do NOT want to sit next to me in a serious meeting unless you don’t mind getting in trouble. Why not lean into that? And somehow it just worked. But I think that’s how life is a lot of the time—you’ve got to be able to see the humor in it or you’ll go crazy. So I enjoy that balance.
Jen: Michael Landau is described as an underdog candidate. What qualities did you give him to make him a worthy opponent to the incumbent and a potential love interest for Beverly?
Sara: Is it terrible to say that I looked at recent elections and wanted to run in the opposite direction? Growing up in the DC suburbs, politics tends to seep into a lot of discussions. (And I DID see Nancy Pelosi in the pit at a Springsteen show once. She was a lot shorter than I expected!) And dishonesty and distrust is one of the biggest themes that comes up over and over and over again. So Michael needed to be the opposite of that. Honest to a fault. I wanted someone who genuinely cared and listened to people. And he needed to be someone who could actually take advice from a woman, which can still be rare today, let alone in the 1960s. Beverly is coming from a marriage where she is undervalued (and later told that her competence is emasculating). For Bev to find love again, she needs someone who is the opposite of that. And I like that their relationship grows out of a mutual respect. It’s not love at first sight. It’s wow, you’re listening to me and treating me with a level of respect that no one else ever has. And I think that respect leads to a partnership that’s going to be much stronger (and more like her parents’ marriage is revealed to be in some ways) than Beverly ever knew a relationship could be.
Jen: How does Beverly's experience as a housewife and mother inform her approach to political campaigning? Did you draw on any real-life examples of women entering politics from unconventional backgrounds?
Sara: One of Beverly’s big pushes is getting women more involved in voting. I was shocked to learn that Maryland ratified the 19th Amendment so late. And there’s still a lot of apathy toward voting because of the nature of a representative democracy. So as a housewife (especially to Larry) and mother, she knows how undervalued she has felt. If you’ve read that comic about The Mental Load (if not, Google that right now), this is still a common feeling for women, where we’re expected to manage everything. And typically we can do it all, but it’s exhausting. So I think Beverly understands how to tap into that feeling of wanting to matter more. Plus, it’s hard to faze a good mom. She’s the type who has extra diapers and wipes at the playground and likely has lipstick on while doing it. Politics is a breeze compared to that! (Kidding. Kind of.) So while I discovered Verda Freeman Welcome in the research stage, I think I was looking at her largely through a modern lens of doing it all at home and work.
Jen: What was the most enjoyable aspect of writing this book for you? And, what do you hope readers take away from this story?
Sara: Honestly, I loved every chapter of this story from start to finish. It was so refreshing to write a character who goes out and gets it done, no matter what gets thrown at her.
With that said, my uncle actually gave me what became my favorite chapter. Before I had written anything, I told him and my aunt the elevator pitch, and he said, when I mentioned the cheating, that Beverly should catch her husband at the Colonial Manor Motel. I’d never heard of the place, so he told me where it was, and explained that it was THE cheating spot in Montgomery County in the 1960s. And if you flipped through the guest book, you’d find a lot of George Washingtons, Abraham Lincolns, etc. And the chapter at the Colonial Manor became one of the best (in my opinion) in the book.
I also loved getting to throw some family lore into this story. There’s a throwaway line where Stuart tells Beverly that two kids got into a fight with a mustard bottle at Hofberg’s Deli—that was my dad and cousin. And my great uncle never took them out to eat again after that.
Jen: What's next on your writing agenda?
Sara: I’m currently working on my fifth book (no title yet… hoping inspiration strikes soon!). It’s set in 1963 and focuses on Barbara, a 31-year-old widow. Her husband died two years earlier and her mother moved in for two years to help with the kids. But she’s finally ready to do this on her own and sends her mother home… only to discover her mother-in-law, Ruth, on her doorstep with five suitcases. When her MIL shows no intention of leaving…ever…Barbara realizes her only option is to marry Ruth off. But Ruth may have similar plans for Barbara. It’s a fun story about learning to appreciate found family.
I’ve also got a contemporary romcom outlined that I’m planning to start once that one is done.
Jen: We'd love to know what's on your "to be read" stack right now. Any books you're particularly excited about?
Sara: So my only real complaint about being an author (other than having to be on TikTok I am the Steve Buscemi pretending to be a teenager meme on there. Fitzgerald didn’t have to dance on social media! Why do I?), is that this is the first period in my life where I’m not reading every single night. And when I do get to read, I have a huge stack of advance reader copies of unpublished books that I’ve been asked to blurb. So I’m currently three Stephen King books behind, which is extremely depressing.
So instead, I’m going to share some recent books that I got to read that I ADORED. First up is The Whisper Sister by Jennifer S. Brown. My editor asked if I’d be willing to blurb this one, and it’s set in the 1920s and I was like, I love Gatsby! I’m in! Well, this is the other side of the 1920s—instead of opulence and flappers, it’s the Jewish immigrant experience, and it was the story I didn’t know I needed. These characters were SO real that I lied and told my husband I had writing to do (I mean I DID have writing to do, I just wasn’t doing it!) and snuck away to keep reading. Be warned, I’ve NEVER cried like I did at one part of this book. Like I cried myself to sleep, woke up to pee, and cried for another hour. SO GOOD.
The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff was bizarrely also a Jewish immigrant in the 1920s story, but a VERY different story, about a young woman who wants to be a broker on Wall Street. With a timeline leading up to the stock market crash, the pacing of this book and the tension it creates are absolutely incredible. And while my family is full of doctors, not brokers, so much of this story felt like my own family’s history, from the father with the produce cart (like my immigrant grandfather had) to the names and the tenements, it all rang true.
On the lighter side, Ali Brady’s Until Next Summer. I’m not a camp person. I’m not an outdoors person if it’s not the beach, to be honest. And I have a love/hate relationship with romcoms. My biggest pet peeve in romance is when the female main character does no work on herself, but finds a guy and gets a happily ever after. Like, honey, you still need therapy or this is going to end like your last one. But in Until Next Summer, the characters do the work. And moreover, the story of mending a broken friendship takes the forefront over the love story and I think that’s something that so many women can relate to.
And finally, Magical Meet Cute by my dear friend (and cousin by marriage!) Jean Meltzer. This one is a cross between a romcom and a treatise against antisemitism—which she had no idea would be so timely when she wrote it. I never knew I wanted my own personal golem before this one!
And someday, I’m getting to those Stephen Kings!
Jen: Thank you for stopping by to chat about your book! It’s a wonderfully engaging story that blends humor, heart, and a fascinating historical setting. Can't wait to see what you'll come up with next!
Sara: Thank you so much! I know every author says this about all of their books, but I adore this one. If I could have crawled into Beverly’s world and lived there, I would have. So I’m really excited for readers to get to experience this story as well!
A wronged wife goes toe to toe with her cheating husband at the polls in this hilarious and heart-lifting novel by the bestselling author of Don’t Forget to Write.
It’s a doozy of a bad day for Beverly Diamond when she catches her husband, Larry, in a compromising position with his secretary. What’s a DC suburban wife to do with a soon-to-be ex, two young kids, and no degree or financial support in 1962? Beat the louse at his own game, that’s what.
Larry runs the Maryland senatorial campaign for the incumbent candidate projected to win against his younger underdog opponent, Michael Landau. But Beverly has the pluck, political savvy, and sheer drive to push Landau’s campaign in a successful new direction, even if he already has a campaign manager who is less than pleased she has inserted herself into the race.
Now it’s rival against rival. She and Michael do make a great team…maybe in more ways than one. But with the election heating up, she needs to focus on one thing at a time. If Bev can convince Michael to go modern, pay attention to women’s issues, and learn how to dress himself properly, maybe she can show Larry exactly how much he has underestimated her their entire marriage—and make her own dreams come true in the process.
Women's Fiction [Lake Union Publishing, On Sale: August 6, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662517723 / ]
Sara Goodman Confino teaches high school English and journalism in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and two miniature schnauzers, Rosie and Sandy. When she’s not writing or working out, she can be found on the beach or at a Springsteen show, sometimes even dancing on stage.
Jennifer Vido writes sweet romances set in the Lowcountry filled with southern charm and hospitality. In between chapters, she interviews authors for her bi-weekly Jen’s Jewels column on FreshFiction.com. Most mornings, she teaches an arthritis-friendly water exercise class for seniors before heading to the office to serve as the executive director of a legal non-profit. A New Jersey native, she currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two rescue dogs and is the proud parent of two sons who miss her home-cooked meals. To learn more, please visit her website.
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