Quotables with Randy Susan Meyers

When I'm reading, I love coming across "just-right" passages that have me reaching for my quote book. With this in mind, and as a twist on an author interview, I'm starting a new feature on the blog, Quotables, in which I present authors with a meaningful (to me) quote from their novels and ask them to speak to it in whatever way they wish.

First up is Randy Susan Meyers, author of the newly released The Murderer's Daughters, a heart-wrenching story of two sisters in the aftermath of the murder of their mother by their father. I highly recommend this book. It deals with heavy issues, but it's a compelling read, as each sister, while remaining close to each other, deals with the tragedy in vastly different ways.

One of the quotes from the book that really stuck with me was:

"Maybe when we recognize the trivial for what it is, we can concentrate on what we love most, what we most treasure."

From the author:

The above quote from the last quarter of The Murderer’s Daughters sums up much of my book. Lulu, a doctor, and one of two sisters who’ve witnessed their father kill their mother, hears these words from a dying patient.

Of the themes that surfaced as I wrote this book, perhaps one of the strongest is the manner in which folks execute appalling deeds over meaningless issues. So many of the batterers with whom I worked in a Massachusetts batterer intervention program permanently damaged their families and their relationships over issues such as unwashed dishes and already-spent money. In The Murderer’s Daughters, a man kills his wife, stabs his daughter, and immediately loses his family and his freedom. He was drunk. His goal was to win back the love of his wife. Instead, he fights with her over a small sum of money, an escalating battle in which his rage culminates in murder.

Perhaps if we took a moment during times of anger (and it is possible; we just tell ourselves that it isn’t) and determined what our true goals were, tragedies—permanent and temporary—could be avoided. And there would not be so many children who end up as the collateral damage of family violence.

St. Martin's Press is providing a giveaway copy of The Murderer's Daughters. Leave a comment by midnight CST on Sunday, February 7, and I'll randomly pick a winner.