Literary Novel / Historical Fiction
Date Published: 07-23-2024
Publisher: Vine Leaves Press
Now 80 years old, retirement and advanced age have dissipated the spirit of six college radicals of the 1960s, who jointly had participated in civil rights campaigns and anti-war protests. Having engaged in only periodic communication over the decades, they suddenly receive an invitation to reunite for an extended weekend. Struggling with whether to go, each of them has divergent qualms and expectations for the proposed gathering.
During their three days together, they confront their inner demons, each other, and their future. Does Rebecca, the prime mover of the event, find solace after losing her wife and career? Can Malaika regain her sense of self after stepping down from her successful law practice? Mourning the loss of her youthful athletic prowess and attractiveness, what happens when Deanna faces her old friends?
Struggling with two divorces and a failing marriage, can Russell attain peace of mind? How will Max, an expat living in Canada, manage with his incipient dementia? Will the demoralized Keith recover his idealism?
Wrinkled Rebels is a story of how six people achieve meaningful lives through the struggle for social justice. It is also a tale of love, the bonds of friendship, and growing old positively.
Interview with Laura Katz Olson
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
Yes, a few years ago I started reading historical novels about the holocaust and found that they can give an emotional understanding of the atrocities and the effect on individuals and families in ways that academic books can’t. And, these accounts, which take historical accuracy seriously, can provide alternative personal perspectives, such as the impact on people from different nations, including the Germans themselves.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Interesting question. I go through directories of names to find one that fits my character’s nationality, religion, time period, etc. However, after writing a chapter or two of Wrinkled Rebels, I found that the names I had chosen for two characters didn’t fit their personalities so I changed them mid-stream.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
If I tell, they won’t be secrets anymore!
What was your hardest scene to write?
Coming out as gay during the 1960s took great courage and often at the sacrifice of family, friends and career. I wanted one of my characters (Rebecca) to wrestle with what it was like to “come out” before the turn of the 21st century. My daughter, Alix, had been an activist for LGBTQ rights as a spoken word poet but other than my talks with her, I had little first-hand experience with the gay lifestyle, its sexuality, or facing the disapproval of other people. The hardest scene was to describe Rebecca’s first attraction to a woman at a party that she and her friends attended.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
In my novels, I attempt to tackle issues of concern to me so each book stands on its own. Wrinkled Rebels struggles with several important issues currently facing baby boomers, including the physical and emotional challenges of old age and life after retirement. It also wrestles with the bonds of friendship, abortion rights, racial discrimination, sexism and social justice.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I have studied politics and policies of aging, along with U.S. healthcare, my entire career (since 1974) and have written several books on the subjects. At the same time, I recently reached age 80 and am struggling with many age-based concerns myself. In this novel I wanted to explore the physical and emotional issues of old age through the perspective of six baby boomers. A few of my characters (Russell, Malaika, Rebecca) wrestle with life after retirement, something I, too, am grappling with (even though I’m still working). My other objectives were to explore lifelong political activism and the bonds of friendship. Writing the novel was cathartic in many ways, allowing me to reach my goals.
What inspired you to write Wrinkled Rebels?
I’ve been a staunch advocate of social and economic justice and participated in the anti-Vietnam war marches on Washington with college friends. I also had joined Core in its fight for civil rights (voting rights, anti-housing discrimination and the like), though I never joined in the dangerous organizing efforts in the South. I remember how much I admired a particular classmate who quit City College (CCNY) in his junior year to devote himself to racial justice causes.
The seeds for these concerns were first planted in me at the High School of Music & Art, a place that provided not only music and art but also political awareness. College only intensified my interest in political activism, which was limited to nonviolent advocacy. My father was quite influential here—I promised him I would not engage in militant actions, and I abided by that; I think that also suited my cautious personality.
In the novel, I wanted to explore what it was like for people who were willing to jeopardize their college degree and even professional career, along with their health, well-being and even lives, for social and economic justice.
I also had a curiosity about what happened to these 1960s/1970s political activists in terms of their lives throughout the decades and what they were like at 80 years old. I realized as I was exploring their changing situation over the years, I didn’t want any of them to give up entirely on their idealistic youthful visions. They just had different ways of expressing them later on.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you have planned for the future?
In my next novel, I’m hoping to write about nursing homes from the perspective of a private equity firm owner, nurse’s aide, a frail older person living in a facility, and her daughter. I have discussed nursing homes extensively in my nonfiction books but hope to use fiction to personalize the issues.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Wrinkled Rebels?
Deanna is a strong-willed, beautiful, and athletic woman in college, ready to risk her well-being for causes and moral values she believed in such as social justice, opposition to the war in Vietnam and, as an adult, abortion rights. She was a driving force of the six friends, prodding them to political action. She also became an adamant feminist. At 80 years old, even though she had become an accomplished gynecologist and was still active in social causes, she mourns the loss of her athletic prowess and good looks.
Short and heavy set, decidedly non-athletic, and careless in her attire and slapdash in household chores, Rebecca is generous, kind, reliable, and loyal but also competitive, controlling achievement oriented and a workaholic. Bravely coming out as gay as a college student, she became a tireless union organizer as a career. She is also a foodie, skilled cook, loner and a daddy’s girl. Grappling with retirement at age 80 and the death of her spouse, she is lonely and at loose ends.
A resilient, diligent, ambitious, unassuming, reserved African American female from the ghetto, in college Malaika is intellectually curious, action-oriented, eventually drawn to feminism and black power and becomes more militant in her thinking. Having to prove herself amidst a sea of bright, white middle-class kids, she is intuitive, a tireless student, political activist and community advocate. After attending law school, she eventually becomes a successful civil rights attorney, with her own firm, but struggles with the loss of her career at retirement.
Non-materialistic, aloof, deep-thinking, sparse with words, principled and reticent, Keith is a passionate musician and song writer who is committed to social and economic justice in college and eventually becomes a fervent environmentalist. Suffering from Parkinson’s disease and disillusioned with American politics, at age 80 he is sapped of energy and withdraws from political action.
Even-tempered but intense, Max has strong moral values, is so committed to the anti-Vietnam cause that he is willing to burn his draft card and flee to Canada. He is a leader, organizer, and first-rate debater as well as secretive, restrained and self-controlled. Since retiring from his architecture firm, he is dealing with incipient dementia.
Ruggedly handsome, charming, tight-fisted, bull-headed and self-absorbed, Russell is an intellectual, talented writer and philanderer. He is also committed to social causes and engages in political action. He achieves a successful academic career as a radical sociologist but after two divorces, a failing marriage and eventually retirement, he is bitter and accusatory.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Falling in love with my characters, who became part of my life during this time. I enjoyed developing them as people and letting them explain themselves through their discussions with each other. Despite their flaws, I wanted to portray them sympathetically so that readers would appreciate their ideas and goals. I felt sad when it was finished, like I lost friends.
I also enjoyed researching the 1960s/1970s and the activists who were part of the era.
About the Author
Laura Katz Olson, AGF Distinguished Professor of Political Science, has taught at Lehigh University since 1974. To date, she has published nine nonfiction books, focusing on aging and healthcare. Her latest, Ethically Challenged: Private Equity Storms U.S. Health Care has been awarded several gold medals, including from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and the Benjamin Franklin Awards. Elder Care Journey: A View from the Front Lines, which relates her personal experiences as a caregiver for her mother, won a Gold Medal in the Ninth Annual Living Now Book Awards. Wrinkled Rebels is her second novel.
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Twitter @lauralee111
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