Filling the creative well in Norfolk

By Colleen Gundlach

When a child becomes a voracious reader early on and knows from her formative years that she wants to be a writer, chances are her drive will enable her to achieve that goal. Such is the case with Norfolk resident Caitlin Macy, author of three novels, ghost writer of 14 more and recipient of the prestigious O. Henry Award for her short story ”Christie.”

Macy grew up in Massachusetts in a typical middle-class family. Her parents were supportive of her goals and talents and enrolled her in a boarding school. “I was a financial aid kid at boarding school,” she says. Her grades and drive were enough to land her a spot at Yale University.

While at Yale, Macy took a job working for a literary agent who represented authors of children’s books. It paid only $16,500, so she began working as a ghostwriter on the side and wrote 13 of the popular intermediate children’s book series The Saddle Club between 1988 and 2001. Some of these books were adapted into a television show of the same name.

She eventually quit her job, went back to school and earned an MFA from Columbia University. “The main hurdle during this time,” she says, “was paying the rent. I had come to New York to be a writer, but I hadn’t achieved it yet. I was writing short pieces for magazines, but it wasn’t enough to make ends meet.” Macy’s big break came when she sold a piece to the New York Times Magazine. It was through the Times story that she connected with an agent. At the time she was halfway through a novel that was destined to become her first book, “Fundamentals of Play.”

Soon after Macy married, her husband’s career took them both to London, where they lived for several years. Their first daughter was born there, but Macy missed New York, so they returned home. She soon published her second book, a short-fiction collection titled “Spoiled,” comprising tales of young women behaving badly.

After the birth of their second daughter, Macy and her husband decided they wanted to find a home outside the city. “I discovered it to be easier to write about a place once I got out. All of my writings are set in New York City, so being out in the country gave me a new perspective.”

A college friend with a home in Litchfield recommended that Macy take a look in northwestern Connecticut, and she fell in love with Norfolk. “It has everything I was looking for,” she says. “Yale Chamber Music, a place to swim, and the library. I love the library.” The couple and their children were soon splitting their time between New York and Norfolk. “I’m lucky enough to be in Norfolk full-time in the summers. I’m a country girl at heart.”

Macy and her family rented on Laurel Way and on Mountain Road before buying a home on North Street. “It’s the Julian Street house,” she quips. “No matter how long we live there it probably will always be the Julian Street house.”

Since buying her Norfolk property, she has completed her most recent novel, “Mrs.,” inspired by her elder daughter’s nursery school. In London, her daughter had attended an informal, Montessori-type nursery school. It was a culture shock to return to New York and see the difference in schools. “In New York, it was a typical Upper East Side nursery school,” says Macy. “Some of the women even wore fur coats and high heels to drop their children off at school.”

This was the atmosphere that inspired the theme for “Mrs.” “I realized that these ‘perfect’ moms must have pasts. Everyone has pasts. ‘Mrs.’ is about being skeptical of things that look too perfect.”

Macy says she likes the people in Norfolk. “The more people we meet here, the happier we are. Everyone in town has their story.” She is helping her daughters become integrated into small-town life—a huge change from their lives in London and New York—and at the same time is thinking about another novel. “I have three ideas,” she says. “We will see which one takes.” She suggests it might be a young adult novel about an adolescent girl and horses or it might be a saga of childhood friends who lose touch with each other over the years but eventually come back together. Only time will tell, but we do know it will most likely be written here in Norfolk. Stay tuned.

Photo, top, of Caitlin Macy, by Bruce Frisch.