Peninsula People Sept 2017

RPV Residents
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Irwin cont. from page 28
might think, Why not try for Pantheon or Scribner? Glass Spider, which
bills itself as “A Boutique Editing and Publishing Service,” seems like a minnow
in an ocean of giants. When asked why them, Irwin replied, “I chose
Glass Spider for a variety of reasons, the main one being trust.”
Arousing finale
We should circle back to why it is that “A Dress the Color of the Sky”
seems to have grabbed people’s attention and fueled their curiosity. Irwin
tells me about an interview she did with a book publicist in which “fifteen-hundred
people tried to call in and talk with me… And why? Because
people are interested in knowing the story of this person who’s a sex addict
and what happened.”
Is it partly autobiographical?
“No.”
Not at all?
“No.”
It’s all made up?”
“Yes.” Irwin paused. “All writers write about what they know. Can I write
about a marriage crumbling? Yes. Can I write about what it’s like to be
married to the wrong person or to date the wrong guy? Yes. I did a lot of
research for the book, obviously on addiction and recovery. I went to a lot
of meetings and talked to a lot of addicts, and my dad was an alcoholic
and a recovered drug addict, so I know what that’s like.”
Also, as mentioned, there were many contemporary issues that Irwin
wanted to explore, one of these concerning the reports of date rapes on
and off campus. “I had to put this into my book because, as a mother of
boys, I wonder where we’re going wrong. I don’t know about the girls because
I don’t have a daughter, and I don’t know about raising a girl.” She
added that she’s spoken to her sons about this subject. “I tried to have them
understand women and how to respect women. I’m sure my kids aren’t
perfect, but it was really important to me.”
This is, in a way, related to the title of the book, which is taken from a
late 17th century fairy tale by Charles Perrault called “Donkeyskin.” The
fairy tale hints at sexual abuse and incest. The donkey skin, Irwin said, “is
what we cover ourselves in to have people not really know who we are.
It’s our protective shell.”
The novel gives a full account of the fairy tale.
“There isn’t a lot of gratuitous sex in my book,” Irwin continued, “but
there is some sex and there’s also discussion of sex and abuse. So, it’s not
for the faint of heart, but at the same time it’s not graphic. It’s not a ‘Fifty
Shades of Grey’ or anything like that.”
One of Irwin’s sons is in his late teens, the others in their early 20s.
When she was writing the book was she thinking what their reactions
might be when they read it?
“Yeah. That was a little hard,” she admited, “and as a matter of fact my
youngest son has been embarrassed about the subject matter of the book.
I definitely did think about that and I definitely was worried about that.”
However, “He’s a big advocate of me being a writer and me writing this
book.” She laughed. “But he doesn’t want to read it.”
Writing “A Dress the Color of the Sky” has, after all, pulled Jennifer Irwin
out of her comfort zone, and she’s aware that not everyone’s going to sing
its praises once it’s published. In some ways she’s steeling herself for that.
That said, she’s had quite a bit of help and support along the way, from
book publishing veteran Edward Young, whom Irwin refers to as a writing
mentor, to her publisher Vince Font, her boyfriend and her sons, her agent
and her many readers, and now the producer and director of the film,
which is scheduled to go into pre-production in January. That’s quite a
backup team, and we can be certain there are others.
And afterwards? Is this the end of the line for sex addict Prudence
Aldrich?
“I’m going to be starting my second book soon,” Irwin said. “At the end
of the book there’s a place where you can go, Oh my god. Now I need to
see what happens next.” PEN
60 Peninsula • September 2017