Today I have the wonderful Rosemary Harris talking about her new book, The Bitches of Brooklyn. This book is inspired by a classic Hollywood film, The Bitches of Brooklyn is for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Susan Isaacs and every woman who’s ever had a best friend and wondered…is she really??
The B Word
by Rosemary Harris
My new book, The Bitches of Brooklyn didn’t start out with that title. In its first incarnation it was a mystery entitled, The Fifth Woman. I loved that title. It was mysterious, intriguing.
And then I walked through an airport and saw Hennel Mankell’s book, The Fifth Woman. And then The Sixth Man came out. The Fourth Witness. Suddenly everything sounded too much like my title.
On top of that, my agent said she liked the book but thought I should consider taking the murder out. (Hunh?) It was really about friendships, she said. Marriages. And it was funny. She annointed me the next Susan Isaacs ( from her lips to you-know-who’s ears.) But the title would have to change.
At one point it was The Bitches of Bushwick (a neighborhood in Brooklyn and a nice riff on The Witches of Eastwick.) The location may have changed but they’ve always been bitches.
Back in the day, it was an epithet. Joan Crawford’s character doesn’t even utter it at the end of The Women. “There’s a name for you, ladies but it isn’t used in society – outside of a kennel!”
Nowadays, it is. Skinny Bitch. Stitch ‘n’ Bitch. Don’t trust the B*tch in 2B. Elton John sang that The Bitch is Back and The Stones thought love was a bitch. Miles Davis made a brew out of it. We’ve got Bitch Magazine, The Book Bitch, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. In many circles, including the one in my book, it’s a term of endearment.
And for goodness sake, we regularly kill, maim and otherwise abuse characters in our books. One would not think a simple one syllable word would be cause for censorship. (Facebook refused to run my ad. It kept popping up as The Of Brooklyn.)
I haven’t crossed the rubicon yet in terms of using the F word in my books (and may never) but I have embraced my inner – and some would say outer – Bitch. But to paraphrase Margaret Cho – “any time anyone has ever called me a bitch, I’ve taken it as a compliment.”
Are they really bitches? That depends who you ask…Rachel, Clare, Tina and Jane are four friends awaiting the arrival of a fifth at a secluded Cape Cod bungalow where they spend an all-girls weekend every summer. But this time the fifth woman doesn’t show. Instead she sends a note that reads – “I’ve run off with one of your men.”
Has she? Is it a prank? Do they run for the phone or try to enjoy the weekend without her?
About the Author:
Rosemary Harris is a native Brooklynite, like some of the characters in The Bitches of Brooklyn. A former bookstore manager and television executive, she’s the author of the Dirty Business mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Paula Holliday. Her debut novel, the Agatha and Anthony-nominated, Pushing Up Daisies (Minotaur), was followed by The Big Dirt Nap, Dead Head and Slugfest. The Bitches of Brooklyn is the first in a new series. Rosemary is past president of Mystery Writers of America’s NY Chapter and Sisters in Crime’s New England Chapter.
She lives in New York City and Fairfield County, CT.
She blogs with seven other mystery writers at www.jungleredwriters.com.
Visit Rosemary at www.rosemaryharris.com
Like her on facebook at www.facebook.com/RosemaryHarriswriter
Jennifer’s Review of The Bitches of Brooklyn
Review (4 Stars): This was an enjoyable novel about a group of women that travel to Cape Cod for a girl’s weekend but soon receive a message from another woman in their group saying that she has run off with one of their men. As the women try to enjoy the rest of their weekend, while trying to determine who has run off with Abby, they each look back on their lives and the reasons why it could be their husband or boyfriend.
This was a delightfully charming book about four lifelong friends who have stood by each other through everything and I loved the humor that was laced throughout this book. Each of these characters were fun and entertaining and I loved how they truly cared about one another. The Bitches of Brooklyn was a great read and will have you wishing that you had good friends like these.
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