Author Confessions: Eliza Knight
Her latest novel, her biggest fears and how an entitled dog inspired it all.
I picked up Confessions of a Grammar Queen one Saturday morning and found myself completely charmed by the main character from the start. Bernadette Swift works her tail off as a young copywriter for a top publishing house in New York but we see straight away that she’s being held back by her sexist boss. With a goal of one day rising to the top, she looks to members of a feminist book club at the New York Public Library for support—until she realizes she could inspire these women to make big changes in their own lives too.
It’s the latest delight from historical novelist Eliza Knight who has penned so many historical fiction and historical romances that I stopped trying to count them all on her website. LOL. This book isn’t entirely a departure. Her last historical book also followed an empowered woman: Queen Elizabeth and her close relationship with her corgi, Susan! Not only will readers appreciate this story’s ability to remind us of our own deep love of books, the plucky heroine will have you rooting for her from the beginning.
Welcome to Dear Fiction, Eliza. Please don’t judge any grammatical mistakes I make in this interview. Haha!
Where did the idea for Confessions of a Grammar Queen come from?
A few summers ago, I met Frank in a bar in Columbus, Ohio—a towering Harlequin Great Dane who acted like he owned the place. He wandered from table to table with the swagger of a four-legged mayor. As a lifelong dog person, I was smitten. I turned to my husband and daughter and said, “That dog needs to go in a book.”
A month later, while blasting Taylor Swift’s “The Man” on a book tour, I had a flash of inspiration. By the end of the song, I had a heroine—Bernadette—and Frank was faithfully by her side. The idea kept building as I wandered the New York Public Library. I thought about women in publishing and who the icons were, the women who paved the way. I wanted to write a story that was a nod to their ambitions and perseverance. I called my agent with a pitch I couldn’t stop thinking about: a smart, stylish woman in 1960s publishing, with a secret feminist book club at the NYPL, determined to become the industry’s first female CEO. Confessions of a Grammar Queen was born.
Why did you choose to write about the sixties, and what was your favorite piece of research you discovered?
Set in the early 1960s, Confessions of a Grammar Queen is inspired in part by the Equal Pay Act of 1963, when women finally gained the right to ask for the same salary as their male colleagues—but the request wasn’t always honored. A struggle women still face today. Beyond the connections to women in the workplace, I absolutely love the music of the 60s, I love that people had pink kitchens, and I loved the changing style of clothes.
My favorite piece of research was about Eleanor Gould Packard, a copyeditor for the New Yorker during from the 60s until she retired in the late 90s. She was called the Grammarian, a title I gave Bernadette in my book, and while I embellished her story, the way she got her job at the New Yorker was quite fascinating. She took a copy of the magazine, copy edited an article that was already printed, and brought it in. They hired her. She was a fascinating woman. I wish I could have met her!
She sounds fascinating! There are some satisfying workplace victories in this novel. Can you talk about how your own experiences at work shaped the story? I often find in my research that sometimes women's lives weren't all that different in the 60s and 70s than they are today.
It’s so true, they aren’t! As a young adult finishing high school and going to college, I worked as a receptionist at a few doctor’s offices, my dorm, a law firm and a car dealership. I experienced the same thing at each one: a lot of comments on my looks, my clothes, whether or not I was smiling enough—and not at patients, clients or customers, but to the males at work. One of my bosses, when I wore slacks to work actually told me that I should wear a skirt. What?!
Oh wow. That’s a doozy. Are you a grammar queen? Or did you just enjoy writing the personality of one?
I am by no means a Grammarian—tell me to fix a misplaced modifier and I will run! But I do *LOVE* words. I still have my father’s childhood dictionary which I used to pour over as a child myself, and I’ve always had a love of language and the written word. I would consider myself a logophile! I absolutely did have a blast writing about the personality of a grammar queen, and infused some of my own quirks into Bernadette’s character. But I will say when the book was sent for copy edits, I was terrified of what the results would be—and my CE definitely had fun with it!
Haha! What is the nicest thing anyone has ever said about your writing and why did it mean so much to you?
Finding out that a reader has loved your work and couldn’t put down a book is always fun, but I think the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me wasn’t actually about me, it was about them, in that my book helped them get through a really tough time. And that means the world to me, that words I put on a page, characters I create, worlds I build, helped someone, that I’ve touched people’s hearts. That is so humbling and profound.
That gave me chills. I completely agree. What is your greatest deep-seeded fear when it comes to writing? How have you pushed through that fear specifically?
I have two fears. One day, I will wake up and can’t use my hands to write. I have carpal tunnel from years of piano and I’ve been a writer since I was a child. I already use braces, creams, etc… but, I have started to use dictation to help with this. The second fear I have is that one day I won’t have a story to tell, or rather, I will forget how to tell a story. The former is a nonsensical fear as I have vast lists of ideas that I will never get the chance to write because I am not immortal—but I do worry that the words will dry up one day and my brain will proclaim it is finished.
You are a history buff. Do you think you could have lived in that era happily?
Knowing all that happened in the 60s I think I would not have had as much fun as I like! I value women’s rights, civil rights, and I do love technology. The 60s were a turbulent time for women, people of color, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities. We were also on the cusp of the Vietnam War which was hard on our country—people were divided and so many of our military members came home scarred. I wouldn’t want to live in that world. That said, I love the music, the clothes (I used to have go-go boots and a flower power wardrobe!), the sense of change in the world, which the 60s brought with women’s rights movements and civil rights movements.
If you could compare the vibe of your book to a specific movie, what would it be and why?
Ohhhh! This is a fun one! My answer is Legally Blonde! Like Elle Woods, Bernadette Swift loves pink, and believes women can do hard things, women are smart, and women deserve respect. Like Elle, Bernadette has to deal with a sexist boss who hits on her and is constantly disparaging her skills because she is a woman. Like Elle, Bernadette has a male co-worker and several good female friends rooting for her and supporting her.
Yes! I can totally see that. I absolutely love that comparison. Great to see you, Eliza! After reading her book, check out her super fun podcast, “History, Books & Wine.” I recently recorded an episode with Eliza and it was a great conversation since we share so many similar interests. We also realized we both went to the University of Maryland, College Park — Go Terps!
I always love your author interviews! I agree that it means so much to hear from readers going through tough times. Books can be that moment of grace.