Author Confessions: Meg Mitchell Moore
On her latest novel, feeling hopeless after rejection and where to get the best mudslide on Block Island.
My husband and I got married on Block Island so when I first discovered Meg Mitchell Moore’s The Islanders in 2019, set in New England’s best kept secret, I devoured it. But that’s the thing about Meg’s novels. You can’t put them down, which is what happened when I read Mansion Beach.
Mansion Beach is a creative retelling of The Great Gatsby and I loved every minute of it. You know who else is a fan? Elin Hilderbrand, who recently called it the book of the summer! Of course it made my list of the best beach reads of summer as well.
Thank you for stopping by Dear Fiction, Meg!
Why do you keep writing about Block Island? What continues to draw you to the island?
Block Island is such an amazing place! I discovered it before I started writing my 2019 novel, The Islanders. I was looking for a place to set a novel, so my husband and I took a daytrip. I’d always been curious about Block Island—even though I went to college and got married in Rhode Island, I’d never been to the Block. When I first visited, I was immediately smitten. It has so much natural beauty, a vibrant daytripping population, and the very best beaches around. I was intrigued by the idea of writing about people who live there year round as well as those who visit for a day, a week, a summer—and I’m still intrigued by that! I love the idea of putting people in a constrained area, like an island, to see what happens.
I love origin stories. Where did the idea for Mansion Beach come from?
I think it basically came from an Audible sale. I’m a huge audiobook listener, and once I saw something about the audio version of The Great Gatsby, read by Jake Gyllenhaal. Of course I’d read Gatsby before more than once (I was an English major!) but listening to this version brought it back to me. It struck me that Gatsby was, in many ways, the ultimate “beach book” before beach books were a thing: it has a summer setting, a love triangle, some mystery, and lots and lots of cocktails. Had it been published now instead of 100 years ago, it might be on the table with Elin Hilderbrand’s latest! I became really interested in the idea of writing a contemporary story inspired by this classic, so that’s what eventually became Mansion Beach.
Do you have a theme you return to repeatedly in your novels? What is it—and why are you so fascinated with the idea?
I’d say I always return to families. Every one of my novels features a family in one way or another. I’m also really interested in wealth or lack of wealth and what that does to marriages, relationships, friendships. I love an outsider story as well! I think because I moved around a lot as a kid and was often the newcomer I love to put a character in a foreign situation and watch them figure it out.
This novel is very humorous. Why do you use comedy in your books and what part of the story made you laugh the most?
Aw, thank you! That’s a huge compliment. My favorite books are the ones that can balance light and dark in a particular way, and if a book doesn’t make me laugh at some point I might put it down. The Wedding People is a recent book I think did a fabulous job of this, as well as anything by Liane Moriarty. I try to make sure my favorite characters always have a sense of humor.
You've written nine books, right? Did your books shoot to the top or have you been slowly growing your audience? Which one of your books helped you gain notoriety and why do you think?
Yes, nine is right. Um, I think I’m still waiting for my books to shoot to the top? I’ll let you know when I’m there! It has definitely been a slow build. I’d say that my third novel, The Admissions, got a good amount of attention that was new to me. Two Truths and a Lie got placed in more outlets where it had a chance to reach a wider audience. Vacationland maybe got the best review coverage? I’m not even sure. Then, Summer Stage, which I really loved, didn’t sell as well as those books! But I have not had One Big Hit. (Yet.) Are you listening, Book Gods?
I love that. That’s how it feels sometimes, right? Praying to Book Gods that our novels find audiences! What has been the hardest day of your publishing career?
When I had published two novels and was trying to sell my third, my publisher passed on it and I had to start all over—new book, new publisher, new search, everything. I think the day I learned they had passed on that book was really hard. In retrospect, that book wasn’t good! It wasn’t ready! I had to write a book in between and go back to the book in question later. But I didn’t know that at the time, and I felt very hopeless.
Describe your perfect Block Island day. Begin the morning and end at sunset. :))
First comes a run, in weather that is still cool and not too humid (unlikely, but I can dream). Then, while I’m drinking a strong cappuccino, probably from The Cracked Mug, the weather begins to warm, becoming beach-worthy by around 11 am. My Irish skin can’t take several hours at the beach, but I’ll go as long as I can (Scotch Beach, or Fred Benson), with plenty of sunscreen and a hat. I *always* go in the water, it’s a rule of mine, and it doesn’t count unless you go all the way under.
I brought lunch from Three Sisters, so I don’t have to leave the beach. Then I’ll read and probably take a beach nap. An afternoon bike ride comes next, ending with a mudslide consumed outside while looking at the water (the outdoor bar at Payne’s Dock works for this). Dinner out, probably at Spring House, definitely seafood and a cold glass of white wine, and if time, I’ll catch the sunset on the west side of the island.
Just started Mansion Beach & LOVING it so far 🩷
I love mudslides!