I have a free newsletter on Substack called The Storied Sisters Society. Each week a different heroine of historical fiction is highlighted, but with a modern twist. There are headings like, “Her Superpower Is:” to give these women of the past a contemporary spin. To celebrate the publication of my upcoming historical fiction book, DEAR MISSING FRIEND, I thought it might be fun to give my own protagonist, Catherine McGuirk, the same Storied Sisters treatment I give our other heroines.
The Moxie Meter: 9/10 Cath leaves her homeland to come to America, learns every job in two hotels, befriends two famous authors, hangs out with a former slave turned actual saint, fulfills her professional teaching ambitions, helps support many nieces and nephews – and all this while it’s still the 1800s.
Why We Love Her: Cath is a good friend and loyal to her family. She makes the best with what she is given. Her relationships with young people are a strength. Cath’s innate honesty inspires trust from others.
Why We Question Her: Cath’s vindictiveness is her worst quality. It takes time and healing from loss for her to finally wake up and rise above her grievances.
Her Superpower Is: Teaching. Cath’s work, once she is finally able to perform it, means the world to her. It is what she trained for and deeply believes she can do. Once it is finally her profession, teaching sustains her through heartbreak, loss, and joy. As long as she has pupils to teach, Cath can find a measure of peace.
From Leading Lady to Heroine Moment: It is the reckoning Cath has when she hides in the back of an empty church to escape her turmoil over Michael trying to find her again. She almost hears the voice of her wise older friend, passed on for years, who spent time there. His old lectures about mercy seem to finally be taking root in her. Forgiveness is finally beginning to soften Cath’s hardened heart.
Her Paradoxes:
1) It takes Cath by surprise that she has no chance of becoming a governess in a town of working people who can’t afford them. She assumes there are landed gentry in most American towns, like in Ireland.
2) Though the only girl in a family of boys, Cath’s two sisters-in-law are as close as any real sisters. Both also have multiple brothers.
3) Cath is qualified to teach in more subjects than the male teacher working in the same wealthy household. Yet he has the title of “tutor’ and she is stuck with “nurse.”
Weird Hidden Themes: Two characters in the novel have near death accidents that inform the experience of the other across time and space.
What the Book is Really About: It is about waiting: for escape, for return, for news, for closure, for release. Answers to issues like these in the 1800s are few and patience and acceptance, a necessity. It is no mystery why the word “forbearance” is no longer used much.
What We Take Away: I end each post with the Storied Sisters Society Code:
“We honor the women of the past who endured so the women of the present can prevail.” I believe we all stand on the shoulders of the women who went before us. Sometimes, it is the women in our own families, even those we haven’t heard of, who were brave and fierce. They forged paths through difficult terrain, arguably rougher than our own, that benefit us still.
Narrator: Jess Moran, Liam Gerrard
Sag Harbor, NY 1845: Having already spurned a marriage proposal from Patrick Lynch on her passage from Ireland, Catherine McGuirk is confident she will find work as a governess, or at least a teacher. The local schoolmaster dismisses her with a smirk. Settling for hotel work has its upside when Cath meets a handsome seaman, Michael Heffernan. Just as she falls in love, he is off on a world voyage hunting whales.
Spending her romance alone spurs Cath to resume her correspondence with Patrick. His ascent as a successful businessman in New York is swift, while Michael promises to give up the sea for marriage to Cath. When the gold rush calls, he cannot resist. A brokenhearted Cath moves to New York to revive her dream of becoming a governess.
Once in Manhattan, she continues to be torn between her own ambition, the missing seaman she married, and the wealthy speculator she didn't.
Women's Fiction Historical [ Sea Crow Press, On Sale: May 16, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9781961864542 / eISBN: 9781961864559 ]
Susan McGuirk posts about historical fiction heroines on her blog “The Storied Sisters Society” on Bluesky, Substack, and on her website, www.susanmcguirk.com. Susan worked at Anthology Film Archives, a historical film museum, where she received its Film Preservation Award and serves on the Board of Advisors. She honed her writing skills at HBO, composing hundreds of in-house film reviews. After running a media mentoring program at City College of New York, Susan accepted the President’s Award. She lives with her husband in New York City. DEAR MISSING FRIEND is her debut novel.
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