HOW THE SEARS CATALOGUE INSPIRED ME TO WRITE A NOVEL
A few years ago, I was playing that Christmas gift-giving game – you know the one, where people exchange hilarious gifts and then steal them from one another – when it happened.
Eden’s Daughter just popped into my head. Or I should say clunked (it was heavy).
I had unwrapped a copy of the 800-page 1974 Sears Spring and Summer Catalogue. The moment I saw it, I knew I would write a novel set in 1974.
That was about all I knew for sure.
But I had to keep that catalogue, at all costs. After several back-and-forth thefts of the precious item – everyone wanted it – I claimed it for my own. And a few months later, I sat down to write the first chapter of my novel.
The catalogue was an excellent resource as I tried to recreate life in the 1970s. Did we really wear that much polyester? Why did people love avocado green shag carpets? Did the ‘Beauti Breast’ hydrolator, designed to “stimulate circulation in the breasts and improve the bosom,” really work?
I clearly remember the excitement in our home when the newest Sears catalogue arrived. The Christmas catalogue was the best, because as kids, we got to circle our favourite toys, hoping Santa got the hint. Somehow, I doubt that the modern-day equivalent of the Sears catalogue – Amazon – generates the same level of delight.
Ah, it was a simpler time. Or was it?
Eden’s Daughter, despite its idyllic rural setting, touches on many of the issues people faced in the 1970s. The sudden availability of abortion. The emerging rights of birth parents. Matrimonial property rights in farm families. The increasing incidence of divorce.
It is far from a simple story. And news flash? Nothing about the twentieth century, in all its tumultuousness, was simple.
Still, if you read my novel, I hope that it brings back memories of the 1970s, whether they are hilarious or disturbing. If you didn’t live through the 1970s, this book will give you a glimpse into life at that time.
And if you are particularly interested, I can tell you exactly how much the deluxe cassette recorder Eden got for her fifteenth birthday cost. (Answer: $79.98)
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Eden’s Daughter, the story of a young woman’s search for the child she was forced to give up for adoption, will be available on Amazon on August 1. Sadly, it cannot be ordered from the Sears catalogue.