An Interview with Amy Walsh, Nellie O’Dwyer, and Bridget of West Mountain
Amy Walsh:
Now, I’ll have you both know—I come from a long line of storytellers, and I married into an Irish family who could spin a tale before the kettle even starts to whistle. So I suppose it was only a matter of time before the O’Dwyers and the girls of West Mountain found their way onto my pages.
Nellie, we’ll begin with you. Be honest now… how exactly does a girl who can barely boil water end up working as an assistant cook?
Nellie:
(Grinning)
Ah, Mrs. Walsh, it wasn’t entirely my fault. There was a misunderstanding… a small one… involving my name, a job posting, and a wealthy gentleman who clearly expected someone far more… competent.
But once you’ve nodded yes, tied on an apron, and walked into a grand kitchen—well, there’s no graceful way to back out, is there?
Amy:
No, there really isn’t. (Laughs) And instead of running, you stayed.
Nellie:
Stayed, stumbled, and nearly set things aflame once or twice, but I had my secret weapon.
Amy:
Ah yes… the cookbook.
Nellie:
Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book. Found it at a Red Cross sale, tucked between things far more sensible than me. It’s the only reason I didn’t get turned out the first week.
Amy:
And yet, it’s not just the cooking you’re hiding, is it?
Nellie:
(Quietly)
No, ma’am. A lie might get you in the door… but it has a way of sitting at the table with you after.
Amy:
Bridget, your story is a different sort of kitchen altogether. There´s less flour and sugar, more quiet halls and whispered prayers.
Tell me… what was it like at the West Mountain Sanitarium?
Bridget:
It was… still. Not peaceful, exactly. Just still.
You could hear everything—the wind, footsteps in the corridor, a cough three rooms away. Time stretched there. Days felt like weeks… and yet, you held onto the smallest things. A letter. A kind nurse. A page in a diary.
Amy:
You kept one.
Bridget:
I did. When you’re set apart from the world, writing makes you feel as though you still belong to it.
Amy:
And somehow… your words didn’t stay in your own time.
Bridget:
(Soft smile)
No. It seems they found their way to someone who needed them.
Amy:
Now here’s what I can’t help wondering…
Nellie, if you had found some of Bridget’s diary pages tucked between the pages of that cookbook – would you have read it?
Nellie:
Oh, I’d have told myself not to… and then read every last word by candlelight.
Bridget:
And I think… you might have understood more than you expect.
Nellie:
You mean the fear?
Bridget:
The fear… and the wanting to become someone better than you were yesterday.
Amy:
That seems to be the thread that ties you both together, doesn’t it?
One girl pretending to be something she’s not… and another trying to hold onto who she is when everything is slipping away.
Nellie:
(Softly)
Do we manage it?
Bridget:
I think… we try. And sometimes, that’s the bravest part.
Amy:
Well, I’ll say this much—between Irish mountains, old cookbooks, and a sanitarium that refuses to stay quiet, I don’t think readers will be leaving either of you anytime soon.
One last question…
If someone were to open these books tonight, what would you want them to find?
Nellie:
Hope… even if it arrives wearing an apron and telling a fib or two.
Bridget:
And the feeling that no story—no matter how old—is ever truly finished.
Amy:
Perfect. That’s just the sort of answer that keeps a reader turning pages long past bedtime… and blaming me for it in the morning.
Readers, I think you will enjoy meeting these very flawed, but brave young ladies.
Here´s more about Voices in the Sanitorium:
Here´s more about Nellie!
Nellie is her preferred name, but family and friends have heard Mam shout “Fenella Aileen O’Dwyer!” all too often with the countless predicaments she got herself into throughout childhood. So, it’s not altogether surprising when Nellie impulsively accepts a job as an assistant cook at the Clarinda House in a case of mistaken identity — though she’s the last person her family would ask to prepare a meal. Fortunately, along with determination, a talent for acting, and the gift of blarney, Nellie has Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book, a treasure she discovered at a Red Cross drought relief sale. As her reluctant admiration for her employer grows, Nellie wishes she could be the truthful woman of faith that Mr. Mason Peale esteems. If she confesses all, will she lose her job along with the friendships she’s formed at Clarinda House?
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