Such A Pretty Girl with T. Greenwood

from Desideratum · host Theresa Bakken

(00:00) Introduction this is Such A Pretty Girl by T Greenwood (02:15) Words are powerful and 1970's advertising cringe  (04:52) Me too movement lens and two time lines give characters a reason to revisit their past  (06:42) Child narrator storytelling give out of the mouth of babes moments (08:27) Desire for something right out of reach and key to all stories is   (10:51) Settings with danger children always need to be kept safe (12:57) Anxiety and panic language and what soothes these feelings (15:13) Photographers and taking or making an image  (17:12) Art has context and changes over time and characters with grounded moral compass are critical to this story (18:15) Audiobook excerpt introduction about Mara Wilson (19:15) Audiobook excerpt narrated by Mara Wilson (24:44) Predatory paparazzi thievery of image is allegory for losing agency over our bodies  (27:04) Book is about complicity and women and betrayal  (29:52) Mother Daughter relationships  (31:43) French connection  (32:39) Westbeth artists residence in NYC and historical fiction research serendipity and magic (38:09) Conclusion what is essential to Tammy Greenwood  This is a story set in NYC. It centers on a controversial photo taken of a young girl in 1977. Author Tammy (T) Greenwood tells the story through the eyes of this child model and actress who’s all grown up today with a daughter of her own. There is a striking generational mother daughter story here too, so that’s where we begin talking about the novel Such a Pretty Girl. You'll hear an excerpt from the audiobook set in the Westbeth artist community in NY (which was a real place we’ll talk more about).  In the section of the audiobook we are featuring, you’re with the main character Ryan when she’s a child. And, your guide is narrator Mara Wilson - who herself is known for film acting rolls from her childhood. She was Natalie in Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993, and she played the lead role in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda in 1996. Today she is a stage actress, a voice artist, a writer, and a playwright. I hope you enjoyed meeting Tammy and talking about the '70's and motherhood and art as much as I did.  I hope you got lost in Mara Wilson’s narration - that hearing a few minutes of the audiobook for Such a Pretty Girl produced by Tantor left you wanting more.   Thanks to Kensington Press for making this episode possible.  Kensington generously provides Desideratum listeners the discount code DP20 to save 20 percent across their incredible library - you just enter DP20 at checkout at Kensingtonbooks.com Also, please check out Libro.fm to find Such A Pretty Girl narrated by Mara Wilson. Using this affiliate link to Libro.fm supports this podcast and a local book store of your choice.  You can find more about T. Greenwood’s other novels on her website: https://www.tgreenwood.com/ As always, thank you for listening.

What this episode covers

(00:00) Introduction this is Such A Pretty Girl by T Greenwood (02:15) Words are powerful and 1970's advertising cringe (04:52) Me too movement lens and two time lines give characters a reason to revisit their past (06:42) Child narrator storytelling give out of the mouth of babes moments (08:27) Desire for something right out of reach and key to all stories is (10:51) Settings with danger children always need to be kept safe (12:57) Anxiety and panic language and what soothes these feelings (15:13) Photographers and taking or making an image (17:12) Art has context and changes over time and characters with grounded moral compass are critical to this story (18:15) Audiobook excerpt introduction about Mara Wilson (19:15) Audiobook excerpt narrated by Mara Wilson (24:44) Predatory paparazzi thievery of image is allegory for losing agency over our bodies (27:04) Book is about complicity and women and betrayal (29:52) Mother Daughter relationships (31:43) French connection (32:39) Westbeth artists residence in NYC and historical fiction research serendipity and magic (38:09) Conclusion what is essential to Tammy Greenwood This is a story set in NYC. It centers on a controversial photo taken of a young girl in 1977. Author Tammy (T) Greenwood tells the story through the eyes of this child model and actress who’s all grown up today with a daughter of her own. There is a striking generational mother daughter story here too, so that’s where we begin talking about the novel Such a Pretty Girl. You'll hear an excerpt from the audiobook set in the Westbeth artist community in NY (which was a real place we’ll talk more about). In the section of the audiobook we are featuring, you’re with the main character Ryan when she’s a child. And, your guide is narrator Mara Wilson - who herself is known for film acting rolls from her childhood. She was Natalie in Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993, and she played the lead role in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda in 1996. Today she is a stage actress, a voice artist, a writer, and a playwright. I hope you enjoyed meeting Tammy and talking about the '70's and motherhood and art as much as I did. I hope you got lost in Mara Wilson’s narration - that hearing a few minutes of the audiobook for Such a Pretty Girl produced by Tantor left you wanting more. Thanks to Kensington Press for making this episode possible. Kensington generously provides Desideratum listeners the discount code DP20 to save 20 percent across their incredible library - you just enter DP20 at checkout at Kensingtonbooks.com Also, please check out Libro.fm to find Such A Pretty Girl narrated by Mara Wilson. Using this affiliate link to Libro.fm supports this podcast and a local book store of your choice. You can find more about T. Greenwood’s other novels on her website: https://www.tgreenwood.com/ As always, thank you for listening.

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This episode was published on February 3, 2023.

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