Sometimes a story stays with the reader long after finishing the book. Has that happened to you? This is the case for me after I completed Poster Girls. Recently, I was thrilled to learn the novel has been optioned for a potential movie to be produced and directed by Christina Capra, the granddaughter of legendary Frank Capra, who directed “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Learn more here.
I appreciate the setting of the story, my hometown of Charlotte. Never did I imagine how the city played a major role in World War II with a massive munitions plant where women worked the assembly line. Remember the recruitment poster from the 1940s of Rosie the Riveter?
It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with the author, Meredith Ritchie, and asked her about her process in developing characters. Here’s what she had to say, “I interviewed each one as part of my initial research process.” And I’m thinking she knows they’re not real, right? She explained it this way, “It felt a little funny at first, since I was really just having a conversation inside my own head, but that is actually pretty common within the writing process, and it helped me perfect my dialog.”
The story revolves around two women, Maggie, a transplant from Boston, living with her in-laws while her husband is fighting in the war, and Kora, a black woman of limited means, struggling while her spouse is also serving overseas. Despite the bigotry and racism in the South, Maggie and Kora become fast friends and work together at the munitions plant. I asked Meredith what else should we know about these women? Here’s her reply: “They both felt like insiders and outsiders, depending on work, church, the movies, or Grace’s home (mother-in-law of Maggie).”
In reading the book, I saw where Maggie had to deal with people like her in-laws who thought women belong at home, not in the workplace, and people of color should stay within their own race, not working side by side with whites.
I was curious about what Meredith wanted readers to take away from reading this historical novel. She said this, “I remain fascinated by minority leadership behavior based on cultural constraints, including the brief removal of those constraints during the WWII US labor shortage. History, shown through story, has a lot to teach about modern cycles of misunderstanding. My research and writing process occurred during the #metoo and Black Lives Matter movements. Within the Poster Girls story, I tried to mirror my own discovery of privilege and power differential. Women’s historical fiction has the power to make us wonder what else did we learn but was never recorded in a history book?”
I wanted to know what surprised Meredith most from the research she did for this book. I marveled at her answer and personal insight with this response: “I was taken aback by the swiftness with which the ‘tree snapped back,’ literally the day the Japanese surrendered and women and people of color were told to celebrate the fact that everything was going to go back to the way it was before, when that was effectively impossible for these women.
Lastly, I asked Meredith about her biggest surprise after becoming a published author. Here’s what she said: “I was surprised by how much positive energy I would get from speaking to book clubs and events. Those opportunities have truly fed my soul as a human.”
Poster Girls is available in paperback, hardcover, e-book on Amazon and other national retailers and online booksellers. It is also available as an audiobook on Audible. If you live in the Charlotte area, you can purchase her book locally at The Painted Tree Boutique at 1813 Matthews Township Pkwy in Matthews. To contact Meredith or learn more, visit her website.
1940s Shell Assembly Plant in Charlotte, Christina Capra, historical novel, Meredith Ritchie, Poster Girls, Rosey the Riveter, women's role in World War II at home, World War II