Natasha asked Sarah McCoy:

Hi Sarah, Which book has been the most difficult for you to write about and why?

Sarah McCoy Dear Natasha,

Thanks for coming on Goodreads to ask this question! All of my books have have had harrowing aspects. In THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN it was incredibly difficult to write the scenes re: the origin of the doll's head... the failed slave escape, etc. (I don't want to give out any spoilers to other readers here!) I found myself deeply disturbed by those chapters, particularly because they were loosely based on the real-life account of Dangerfield Newby. Here's his true story. It still brings me to tears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangerf...

That said, I believe the hardest character I've ever had to write was the Nazi officer Josef from THE BAKER'S DAUGHTER. I read a good portion of Hitler's MEIN KAMPF to get into the psychology of a Nazi solider, the rhetoric being taught, the philosophies of the Third Reich, the brainwashing! I wanted to try to understand how an educated, privileged man could convince himself to do such atrocious acts. It was very hard to write. Many days when the burden of knowledge took me to a very dark place. So I'd say that was the most difficult portion of a book I've ever written.

A very intriguing question. No one has asked me that before. Thanks for being in touch, dear.

Yours truly,
Sarah
www.sarahmccoy.com

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