Camille Aubray: Author of "The Godmothers" Talks Family Loyalty, the Strength of Women and Weaving Together Intergenerational Stories
When I started Camille Aubray’s The Godmothers, I was drawn in by the strong family bonds and the lengths that each character went to protect the family. The Godmothers who at first seem to come from completely different worlds soon realize they have a lot in common, despite their quarls and their betrayals they swallow their pride to protect what matters most, their children. In doing so they elicit the attention of less than savory characters who assume they are weak and easy prey with the death of the family heads and the absence of their husbands. These ladies band together in a way that is a testament to the family and the ability of women during a time when being a housewife was the only role to step up and show their strengths as more than homemakers. Camille Aubray weaves a story that stretches across generations but remains true throughout it, family is everything and must come first.
I spoke with Camille about the bond of family, loyalty the strength of women, and how she wove together this intergenerational story.
When “The Godmothers” starts off the reader is quickly introduced to the hardships and cruelness of the times, especially with young Filomena. It is clear that money rules the world no matter where you are and debt is often used as the ultimate power play. Was this a theme you wanted to show throughout the book that in the end money and power were the driving forces and often money was a means to that power?
While money, debt, and power influence our lives in ways that we don’t always notice right away, I am more interested in what people can do to resist the pull of conforming to dubious values. So instead of worshipping and mimicking the rich and powerful, I like to see characters who create a different sort of life, one of dignity and freedom, for themselves and their loved ones, without becoming just another rat in the race.
Lucy, young and hardworking, has her life changed in the most unexpected way, she by choice takes on being a single mother to a child that would have grown up living a harsh life if she hadn’t. At a time when women were not single mothers by choice, Lucy displays her strength and determination to make it and provide for Chris. Do you feel this speaks to Lucy’s character as the pillar of strength she later becomes so accustomed to being?
Yes, Lucy is a fighter; as a nurse, she’s often dealing with emergency situations, so she knows how to make humane choices. If you tell her she can’t raise a child alone because “it isn’t done”, she’ll just stick out her chin and fight for what she knows is right. But it’s hard to go through life entirely alone, and Lucy learns how to make alliances and when to ask for help.
We meet sweet Amie, naive with a good heart who captured the attention of Johnny a man who runs gambling rings in a bar her husband owns. We find out Amie is the victim used and abused by her husband a brute of a man with the morals of a sewer rat. This drives Amie into a desperate act, and Johnny risks everything to help her. Amie for the first time in her life has a strong support system in Johnny, his brother, and his sister-in-law. Was this when Amie’s undying loyalty to the family started?
Absolutely! Like many abused people, Amie at first doesn’t even know that there are other options in life. She’s hungry for the kind of love that Johnny offers; but she’s also in great need of female support, because she lost her mother at such a young age. All of the Godmothers come to realize that they need the help of both men and women.
The family has a strong bond and it is rooted in old-fashioned values, so it is no surprise that Petrina’s graduation is downplayed by her parents. What about her family’s values would make them look down on their daughter being an educated and independent woman?
I don’t think that Petrina’s parents look down on her for being educated. On some level, they respect her for her scholastic achievements. But at the same time, they sense that she is moving into a different orbit than the one they themselves were raised in, and they have rigid ideas about what girls should do when they grow up. If a daughter makes a different choice—like not having a big family herself—the parents may see this as a challenge to their own life choices. So, sometimes families react defensively when a daughter out-performs her parents and brothers, especially if she wants to be independent. The Godmothers figure out that a family has to make room for members who do things a little differently, otherwise all you have is blind conformity, which doesn’t give you strength in hard times.
Tessa and Gianni built an empire from nothing and rose to prominence in a time when Mobsters ruled the streets. It is obvious it is a family business so when we see Filomena slowly begin to realize what kind of family she is marrying into, unexpected wisdom and cunning comes out in her. The kind that Tessa slowly comes to respect though she never admits it. Could it be that Tessa respects Filomena in the sense that she sees a lot of her younger self in Filomena?
Yes, Tessa sees that Filomena, although she’s resourceful and makes her own decisions, is more traditional than her “modern” sisters-in-law. And Tessa and Filomena literally speak the same language, coming from similar backgrounds. Filomena knows how to think for herself, and she is wise enough to make alliances. One of the most important alliances is with her mother-in-law, which isn’t easy, but reaps rewards.
When trouble strikes the family it strikes them without mercy, taking the husbands out of the picture in various ways. At this point, there is distrust among the Godmothers, but all four agree the family comes first. Is this a testament to putting what is most important above one’s own feelings and opinions for the best of all involved?
The Godmothers figure out that they can’t survive without putting aside their grudges. So while they are all wary at first, they find a way to respect one another and pull together. By doing that, they can still voice their feelings and opinions, but now they can literally sit down around a table and hash out a way forward. If confrontation doesn’t lead to consideration and cooperation, nobody wins.
As the Godmothers navigate keeping the family business together they are met with those who see them as easy prey because they no longer have the protection of the men around them. In the face of all this, they come together and show amazing smarts, strength, and tact. Do you feel that not backing down and showing their power didn’t just lay with their husbands was all at once their salvation and their downfall?
Well, I don’t think that the Godmothers had a downfall in the sense of being “out for the count”. I think that, in taking over the business, they were faced with huge challenges that posed great risks, so they don’t emerge from the fight without some bruises. But they figure out how to come out “on the other side” as Petrina says.
When the past slowly comes back to haunt each one of them despite betrayals, distrust and secrets revealed every one of the Godmothers works together to fight everything and everyone that threatens to tear the family apart. Though none of these women are blood-related would you say this goes back to the old saying “Blood is thicker than water”, with the way they pull together and present a unity?
The Godmothers prove that family loyalty isn’t the same thing as blind, blood loyalty. They take an oath to hang in there and protect one another even when the going gets rough. But the bond they share is more than just a promise of loyalty; it’s based on making the effort to find real understanding and empathy—that’s their strength. So that when their loyalty and resolve is challenged time and again, they’ve got a solid foundation to support them.
With this story, you wove a tapestry that spanned generations, each one painting a picture of a family history full of happiness, tragedy, secrets, and strength. When crafting this story what was your main goal with the family and the story of the Godmothers that you wanted to convey to readers?
I wanted to write about different kinds of women whose strengths and worth are sometimes overlooked by those around them. The world of commerce tends to value the brash and the crass. But most of us want a life that’s got love in it, something genuine and true, something of enduring value. So, as the Godmothers’ family moves from generation to generation, they want to make sure that the baton they are passing is truly worth holding onto, something that will really take you where you want to go.
Camille Aubray is the author of the novel Cooking for Picasso, chosen for People Magazine’s Picks of the Best New Books, and the Indie Next Reading Groups List. Aubray was an Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship winner and a writer-in-residence at the Karolyi Foundation in the South of France. She was also a staff writer for the daytime dramas One Life to Live and Capitol. Aubray studied writing with her mentor Margaret Atwood at Humber College in Toronto, and was a finalist for the Pushcart Press Editors’ Book Award and the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
About the Interviewer
Nena Orcutt is an aspiring author, who thinks too much, Listens to a lot of music. Needs coffee to function. Who thinks Bukowski was a wise man and Hemingway was a genius. And feels romance isn’t dead. She is working on her debut novel “The Crow and The Butterfly” Making her home in Music City she’s ready to conquer the writing world and leave her mark.
