Authors Interviewing Characters: Reyna Marder Gentin
JESSICA HARMON HAS STEPPED AWAY
“Vivid, evocative, sensual prose . . . A rich, engrossing portrait of a mother and daughter fencing their way toward a truce.” –Kirkus Reviews
“An aspiring writer, her larger-than-life poet mother, and the road trip that changes everything. I loved this story.”
– Annabel Monaghan, NYT bestselling author of It’s A Love Story
At thirty, Jessica’s Harmon’s love life is a wreck, her confidence is shot, and she’s adrift in New York City, stuck editing other people’s novels at a vanity press while too paralyzed to write her own. She blames her failure to launch on the woman who raised her: Cynthia Harmon, a legendary poet and scholar, who dazzles her students and readers alike…but leaves her only child cold.
Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away is a sharp, emotionally layered novel about mothers and daughters, long-held secrets, and understanding where we come from so we can choose who we become.
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Reyna Marder Gentin interviews Cynthia Harmon
Cynthia stands at the threshold of the room. She scans the tasteful furnishings: the small Persian carpet on the hardwood floor, the orchid in bloom on the side table, the diplomas on the wall. Her gaze lingers on the couch situated against the long wall, the pair of comfortable chairs nearby, the clock facing away, where the author will make sure the interview does not exceed the 45 minutes that has been allotted.
Gentin: Please, Professor Harmon. Come in. Make yourself comfortable.
Cynthia: That seems unlikely.
Gentin: Why don’t you have a seat. Can I get you a glass of water? Or a cup of tea?
Cynthia: Am I supposed to lie down on that couch? Isn’t that how these sessions work? I’ll have you know that when I was a young faculty member at Hunter in the early 1980s, all my colleagues were in psychoanalysis. Shamelessly spilling their secrets to people like you. But not me. I had some self-respect, even back then.
Gentin: Professor Harmon, you know I’m not a doctor, right?
Cynthia: I’m not sure who you are or why I’m here. I do know that I have work to do and not much time left to do it.
Gentin: Why don’t you sit in this chair and I’ll sit in the other one. Would that be acceptable?
Cynthia: Actually, if you don’t mind, I could lie down for a bit. I find myself somewhat exhausted most of the time these days.
Gentin: Of course. And I’m not surprised you’re tired; you’ve been through a lot.
Cynthia: What’s that supposed to mean?
Gentin: Why don’t we start by you telling me a little bit about your academic career.
Cynthia: If you aren’t literate enough to be familiar with my oeuvre, I hardly think this is the time or place to instruct you in twentieth century poetry. Perhaps you should repair to a library, and when you’re ready to have a meaningful discussion, we can start over.
Gentin: I think that’s unfair. I’ve read your poetry, and I still have no idea what makes you tick.
Cynthia: Ah. Now you sound like my daughter Jessica. Always looking for the golden key, the easy way out to understanding why she was dealt the cards she was. As though her childhood was so terrible. Let me ask you this–do you blame your mother for everything that has gone wrong with your life? Or do you take some responsibility for yourself?
Gentin: We’re not talking about me, Professor.
Cynthia: No? Speaking of you, are those Yale diplomas I saw on the wall over there? I can spot a Lux et Veritas from a mile away. Light and Truth. So pompous. I could tell you a story or two about that place that would curl your toes.
Gentin: I know you had a very different experience there than I did. Do you want to talk about it?
Cynthia: Most certainly not.
Gentin: I’ve heard some readers describe you as narcissistic. How do you feel when you hear that?
Cynthia: I think it’s hogwash. The truth is that at bottom, everyone is most concerned about herself. That’s human nature. That’s how we survive. And anyone who says otherwise is either lying or stupid.
Gentin: But what kind of mother doesn’t at least try to put her child’s best interests ahead of her own desires and ambitions?
Cynthia: Well, I see that Jessica has gotten to you with her misguided theories.
Cynthia gets up from the couch and makes her way to the door.
Gentin: Jessica has had a lot to contend with. Will you admit that?
Cynthia: We’ve all had a lot to contend with. Life is a lot to contend with. If you’re lucky and work hard, you can take those formative experiences and make art. I hope that will be true for Jessica.
As she turns to walk out, Cynthia looks back at the author.
Cynthia: Hell, I even hope that will be true for you.
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Reyna Marder Gentin grew up in Great Neck, New York. She attended college and law school at Yale. For many years, she practiced as an appellate attorney with a public defender’s office before turning to writing full time. Reyna has studied at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, and her work has been published widely online and in print. Her debut novel, UNREASONABLE DOUBTS, was named a finalist for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association Star Award in 2019. Her first middle grade novel, MY NAME IS LAYLA, came out in January, 2021, and School Library Journal noted that “Layla’s struggles at school and home are authentically depicted, and readers who face their own challenges will relate.” Layla won the 2021 gold medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Awards in pre-teen fiction. Reyna’s novel BOTH ARE TRUE was published in October, 2021. Nicola Krauss, co-author of THE NANNY DIARIES, called BOTH ARE TRUE a “moving novel that examines what it means to start over–with surprising consequences.” Reyna’s new novel, JESSICA HARMON HAS STEPPED AWAY, will be published by Ten16 Press in November, 2025. Reyna lives with her family in Scarsdale, New York.
Website: reynamardergentin.com.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reynamardergentin
Instagram: @reynamardergentin
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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