Kelly Barnhill on her new feminist fantasy novel, When Women Were Dragons
"For me, the issues and ideas in any novel are secondary to the characters themselves."
Set in a 1950s America where thousands of women have seemingly spontaneously transformed into dragons, Kelly Barnhill’s debut adult novel, When Women Were Dragons, is a unique and captivating exploration of what happens when women and girls take a stand against the society that wants to keep them small. To celebrate its release, we had the pleasure of talking to Kelly all about When Women Were Dragons, writing for an adult audience and more.
Hi Kelly, it’s lovely to get to chat to you today to celebrate the paperback release of When Women Were Dragons. For readers who may just be hearing of it, how would you best describe it to them?
When Women Were Dragons is the story about a young woman coming of age during a time of unruly discontent, social upheaval, gender expansion, scientific inquiry and revolutionary thinking – and, of course, spontaneous dragoning. It’s also a story about ambition, memory, sisterhood, what we owe to our families, ourselves and the world. I wrote it as a memoir, and will assert until my dying day that – despite the fact that it involves fictional characters and a world expanded by my imagination – it is not a novel at all, and is, in fact, still a memoir. The form is important, because it allowed me to explore the intersection between trauma, silence, introspection, knowledge expansion and memory. But memory most of all.
The concept for When Women Were Dragons is fascinating. Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind the book?
I began this book during a critical time in American history, as the United States Senate – along with the rest of us – listened, riveted, to the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, as she recounted the sexual assault that she experienced, perpetrated by a man who was about to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. She shared her story as an act of bravery, in an attempt to stop her country from making a terrible mistake, putting the fate of millions of women – our autonomy, our privacy, our capacity to make our own medical decisions – in the hands of the man who harmed her. In the end, her testimony failed. He was confirmed and all of our fears were realized. As I listened to her, realizing that the die was set and knowing with grim certainty how the next few years would play out, I found myself nearly exploding with rage – for myself, for my children, for my nieces, for the next generation that would grow up with less freedom than I had. I decided then and there that I would write a book about women turning into dragons, and that’s exactly what I did.
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When Women Were Dragons is your first book targeted for an older audience, which your previous titles have been aimed at children. Did your writing process change at all?
Yes and no! I didn’t realize at first that I was writing a novel. This book came out of three separate explosions of text, that I didn’t realize at first were part of the same piece. Usually, I write my books on tiny scraps of paper that live in a box for a very long time (years, sometimes) and then I compose the manuscript longhand, and the book grows from there. In this case, I had three separate narratives, typewritten (also unusual) that I had to weave together. I didn’t know for a long time that I was writing for adults – though I didn’t think I was writing for children either. In fact, I wasn’t really thinking about an audience at all – I was just trying to pin down Alex’s story, as accurately as I could, as true to her voice and soul and very self as I could possibly manage.
Do you have any recommendations for readers looking for a feminist read after loving When We Were Dragons?
I think everyone on earth should read Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby and literally anything by N.K. Jemisin. And now that I’m thinking about it, I would also recommend Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu and The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Older.
When Women Were Dragons is an undeniably fierce read with a powerful overriding message but is there anything you’d particularly like your readers to take away from the story?
That’s hard for me to say. For me, the issues and ideas in any novel are secondary to the characters themselves. Every book is an expression of love and care and belonging, no matter how it begins or what big questions are vexing me at the time. What I really want for my readers is to stand close to Alex as she moves through the landscape of her own life and world. I want my readers to love her as much as I did, to have their hearts broken and mended again, and to give her their empathy and understanding. I think that’s what every author wants for their characters, in the end.
Finally, are you currently working on anything new and if so, is there anything you can share with us about it?
Well, I have a new novella that came out this past March from Tor.com called The Crane Husband, which I’m rather proud of. I wrote it in an RV as we drove across the country during the pandemic. It’s about generational trauma and the primal need to make art and the perils of industrial farming and motherhood and the monsters who find their way into our lives, and our beds, and the dangers they pose to all we hold dear. It’s the darkest, strangest, most unsettling book I’ve ever written, and I love it so much.
Get your copy of When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill here.