In the spirit of The Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours, a historical debut about a nurse who chooses to save a baby’s life, and risks her own in the process, exploring the ties of motherhood and the little-known history of Coney Island and America’s first incubators.
We chat with debut author Addison Armstrong about The Light of Luna Park, along with writing, book recommendations, and more.
Hi, Addison! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Addison, a debut historical fiction author and third grade teacher living in Nashville, TN. Most of my time is spent writing and teaching, but I also love reading, working out and enjoying the outdoors, fawning over cute dogs I see on the street, and spending time with my fiancé and my family.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I wish I had a good answer for this, but I simply can’t remember a time when I didn’t love writing. My childhood closet is still stuffed with boxes of stories I wrote at five and six about crazy underground worlds, talking erasers, and flying children.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
My clearest early reading memories are of the Nancy Drew series, which I started in first grade. I’ve always wanted to be an author, so I don’t know that any specific book inspired me. And the book I read most recently that I can’t stop thinking about is Alice Hoffman’s The Rules of Magic.
Your debut novel The Light of Luna Park is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
History, emotion, motherhood, unconditional love
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect a uniquely historical story grounded in universal emotions. In 1926, Nurse Althea Anderson makes a dangerous decision that will both save a baby’s life and push her into the underbelly of Coney Island. Twenty years later, Stella Wright grapples with her late mother’s mysterious past, her husband’s WWII trauma, and her special education principal’s cruelty.
Where did the inspiration for The Light of Luna Park come from?
I stumbled across an article about the Coney Island baby incubators and was fascinated by both the sensationalism of it and the moral ambiguity. Dr. Martin Couney, who ran the wards, was not a doctor but a showman with an invented medical license—yet he saved thousands of lives. I based Althea’s story on the same premise. She lies and breaks all the rules of her practice, but she does it to save a life.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
I struggled with revising the novel upon receiving my first editorial note. I didn’t go deeply enough, which I think is largely because I never edited much or even proofread in school growing up. My wonderful editor Tara Singh Carlson gave me some pointers for the second round, and I found that I actually really enjoy the revision process! It’s exciting to see my writing improve.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing Stella’s students, who remind me of kids I’ve known.
What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I wrote a manuscript before The Light of Luna Park and queried for about a year with no success. I wrote Luna Park during that querying process and met my agent Melissa Danaczko at the Miami Writer’s Institute. We signed together in the fall/winter of 2019, and then with Putnam in early 2020.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
I’m probably not supposed to say this, but I never appreciate the advice about writing for the market. I don’t think I could get through 90,000 words of anything I was writing for anyone other than myself. As for the best advice, that’s easy: Read.
What’s next for you?
I’ve just finished my second book, another dual timeline historical fiction that takes place in 1918 and 1976. Now I’m teaching third grade English language learners in Nashville.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Always!
- General Fiction: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
- Historical Fiction: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon, The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
- Non-fiction: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
- Memoir: The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, The Book of Rosy by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schwietert Collazo
- Romance: Anything by Helen Hoang or Talia Hibbert
- Fantasy: The Daevabad trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
