Happy December! This month our Wicked Wednesdays are all about family, community, and holidays. To start, let’s talk about the families people make, not the ones they are born with. In each of our series, our protagonists have created “families” of their close friends, co-workers, supporters. Of those folks, Wickeds, which of your fictional surrogate family members is your favorite?
Jessie: I love this question, Edith! My protagonists, Beryl and Edwina have made a family with each other to a large extent. Simpkins, Edwina’s jobbing gardener, has added to the mix and is one of my favorites.
Edith/Maddie: Thanks, Jessie! I like Simpkins a lot. In my Cozy Capers Book Group series, Mac is close to the family she was born with, but the book group members are definitely her “made” family. Norland helps out in the bike shop when she’s shorthanded, Gin is Mac’s sounding board, and head librarian Flo can find the answer to any research question. I’m writing book three (Murder at the Lobstah Shack), and the whole group helps out owner and book group member Tulia.
Liz: Such a fun question. In the Cat Cafe series, Maddie is close to her biological family, but pretty much all of the permanent residents of Daybreak Island are Maddie’s family. Personally, I like Leopard Man the best.
Barb: In the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Julia Snowden speaks of her mother’s across-the-street neighbors, Fiona and Viola Snugg–Fee and Vee– as honorary great-aunts. They, along with Gus and Mrs. Gus, are my favorite Snowden honorary family members.
Sherry: I love Fee and Vee — they truly are characters and I can picture them in my head so clearly. As a former military spouse Sarah has spent her entire adult life creating families as they moved from base to base. She’s done that with her friends in Ellington and always goes to DiNapoli’s Roast Beef and Pizza to talk with the owners, Angelo and Rosalie, when she’s down.
Julie: I love the DeNapolis, Sherry. Every time Sarah goes to their restaurant I get a hankering for Italian food and wine in a sippy cup. The entire Garden Squad are chosen family. I love how close Tamara and Lilly are, and how intertwined their lives have become over time. They are family. Delia is also a wonderful surrogate daughter for Lilly. I do love exploring these relationships–they’re what make these books such a great place to visit.
Readers: Who is your non-birth family member of choice? What family have you created out of choice?