1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE COLONY CLUB
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
When young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard. Against the wishes of the city’s patriarchy, the religious leaders of the time, and other women who believe with their husbands that a woman’s place is in the home, even the murder trial of the century, Daisy persevered, and The Colony Club still exists today.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Since it’s based on an actual historic event, Manhattan was the choice, but within Manhattan, I concentrated on several separate spheres, the Fifth Avenue male inhabited architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. The uptown mansions of Daisy’s society lady friends, Greenwich Village, home of actors, artists and literary figures, and a Brooklyn working class neighborhood,
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
My characters lived in the early 1900s, Daisy was a high society matron, she might work for improving my life or working conditions, but we probably wouldn’t run in the same circles.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Determined, Resourceful, Energetically fair.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
A lot about architecture and that the more things change the harder we must work to prevent them from sliding back again.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A little bit of both. I try not to sweat the small stuff, but if something is affecting the forward motion of the story, I’ll stop and rework that section until it’s on the forward path again. I love getting to the second draft where everything gets messaged and sculpted and sometimes thrown out entirely, but back to where you have something that can be shined into a cohesive story in the third draft.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
It changes for each book, for The Colony Club, afternoon break was Earl Grey tea and McVittie’s chocolate biscuits.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I downsized several years ago, a bit too much I now realize, so my office is where my dining room should be. My main desk is facing the window, so I have nice landscape to gaze at when I’m conjuring my next scene, the side wall is lined with three-foot cabinets with all things writerly stored inside, and three pen and ink drawings by my daughter on the wall behind. A glass-doored bookshelf and secondary desk to my back and on my right an additional work table ( I do a lot of research in actual books and primary sources not available in digital form,)All the furniture is white. A clean surface for madcap book writing.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Mary Stewart. She can do in word choice and sentence rhythm what chase scenes and fast edits can’t compete with.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
There are many books that have changed my life at different times, but I always come back to the I Ching when I sense something is amiss or about to change.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
“The first call” for me was years ago. I had written a book on a whim, out of curiosity, it sold and though I was excited, I think I didn’t fully appreciate how important an event it actually was. Since then, I’ve recorded so many feelings, excitement, happiness, relief, challenged, but always so thankful to have a chance to write another story.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Historical mystery
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The Muppets Christmas Carol.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall at the beach.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I mainly like to forget it. Its not the kind of center-of-attention attention I like to get.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Katty Kay’s Influential podcast where she interviews creative artists, writers, thinkers, chefs—people who make a difference. Something we need to be reminded of in these sometimes trying times.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I’m an equal opportunity foodie. I love French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Spanish …you see what I mean.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Walk on the beach, sit on the stoop and chat with my neighbors, binge watch old British police procedurals
20--What can readers expect from you next?
THE SISTERS OF BOOK ROW. Three sisters who run a rare bookshop in 1915 Manhattan mysteriously receive a lost manuscript that contains newly discovered fragments of poetry by the ancient Greek poetess Sappho, just as the most vicious censor in American history, Anthony Comstock, unleashes his minions upon Book Row. It should be out in 2025.
From New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble comes a thrilling historical novel about the inception of the Colony Club, the first women’s club of its kind, set against the dazzling backdrop of Gilded Age New York.
When young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard. She hires the most sought-after architect in New York, Stanford White, to design the clubhouse.
As “the best dressed actress on the Rialto” Elsie de Wolfe has an eye for décor, but her career is stagnating. So when White asks her to design the clubhouse interiors, she jumps at the chance and the opportunity to add a woman’s touch. He promises to send her an assistant, a young woman he’s hired as a draftsman.
Raised in the Lower East Side tenements, Nora Bromely is determined to become an architect in spite of hostility and sabotage from her male colleagues. She is disappointed and angry when White “foists” her off on this new women’s club project.
But when White is murdered and the ensuing Trial of the Century discloses the architect’s scandalous personal life, fearful backers begin to withdraw their support. It’s questionable whether the club will survive long enough to open.
Daisy, Elsie, and Nora have nothing in common but their determination to carry on. But to do so, they must overcome not only society’s mores but their own prejudices about women, wealth, and each other. Together they strive to transform Daisy’s dream of the Colony Club into a reality, a place that will nurture social justice and ensure the work of the women who earned the nickname “Mink Brigade” far into the future.
Women's Fiction Historical [William Morrow Paperbacks, On Sale: October 1, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063252486 / ]
Shelley Noble is the New York Times Bestselling Author of women's fiction. A former professional dancer and choreographer, she most recently worked on the films Mona Lisa Smile and The Game Plan. Shelley lives near the New Jersey shore where she loves to discover new beaches and indulge her passion for lighthouses and vintage carousels.
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