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I Wanted To Test Myself
“The Road Renounced is a World War I tale of one soldier’s triumphs and tragedies as told by the woman who loves him”. What were some new ideas you wanted to explore that were different from The Road Remembered?
In writing The Road Remembered my idea was a pretty straight forward narrative about the last six months of World War II that encompassed the stories of the eight actual WWII veterans I interviewed—with a couple of twists. Many of my readers told me they loved how I wrote about the good and the bad on both sides of the war—something not often shared by authors who write about one side or the other. One of the story lines I felt was left unexplored in The Road Remembered was the fact that Sam’s father abandoned the family the night his seventh child was born—and why. So in The Road Renounced the bulk of the story centers on Sam’s father, Buzz, but is told primarily from the perspective of Sam’s mother, Maude, although we also get to know Buzz’s perspectives through his conversations with his best friend, Henry, and the Belgian nurse, Marthe Peeters. I wanted readers to witness Buzz’s life through both his eyes and that of his family, but mostly to understand how day-to-day tragedies, along with huge life-altering circumstances like the violent death of one’s parents and the consequences of a war, can work on a person to take his life from realizing his dreams to sunk in despair. I wanted to lead readers through a life that, despite a rocky beginning, blossomed into everything Buzz had ever hoped for and then how he handled it when all of that came crashing down around him. I wanted to test myself to see if I could write about tragic events, like one experiences in life, but still end the book on a satisfying note. Honestly, I held my breath when I received my first feedback from my early readers—all of whom had also read The Road Remembered. I feared this book might not hold their interest—even though it held mine. But, to a person, I heard from them that they considered this book the best I have ever written.
What were some challenges you set for yourself as a writer with this book?
I wanted to explore a circumstance that was so devastating it caused the father of seven children who was married to a wonderful woman who loved him to give all of that up and abandon his family. I mean, who does that? And why? My own grandfather left my grandmother alone much of her life, only returning to get her pregnant, and then leaving again. No one in the family had an answer as to why—lots of speculation, but no facts—so I decided to explore an answer on my own. I wanted to depict a sympathetic character who had a rough home life with his parents, but rose above that to realize his dreams. And then experienced devastating blows, one after another that took him on his downward spiral to misery. We all face downward spirals, from time to time. Whether or not we are able to grow from them is the key to the kind of person we become. Even as the writer, I felt bad for all of the things thrown at Buzz. My heart hurt for him. And I had a plan for how the story ended, but I still wanted to give Buzz every opportunity to grow up and accept that his life was different from what he had hoped for, but could still have been great. Yes, as with many authors, my characters sometimes take over the story and tell me where it goes. I really hoped Buzz would show me something I hadn’t thought of and figured if he could come up with something positive that I hadn’t already imagined, I would be willing to change the ending of the story to reflect that. But alas, he refused to grow from his misfortunes. And he continued to wallow in his grief and renounced the gifts he received at every turn. So, unfortunately for him, he experienced my original plan for his story.
What is one thing readers have been saying about your book that surprises you the most?
I was really surprised that several of my readers said there are so many characters they found it hard to keep up. I suppose that since I know all of the characters so well, that thought never even occurred to me. Most of the readers who told me that were new to my writing and had not read The Road Remembered first, so had to learn some of the characters from the first book, too. The Road Renounced can definitely be read as a stand-alone book but there may be a plethora of characters the new reader might not be used to. As a result, I have created a spreadsheet of characters and their relationships to each other that I have sent to my readers who struggled. The other thing that surprised me was how strongly my readers felt about the story—regardless of the fact that it is a tragedy, my readers loved the story and loved the ending. Apparently a lot of us can relate to the kinds of issues my characters faced
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am toying with a third “Road” book to tie up any loose ends and close out the family, but right now I am working on a story involving a world-renowned blood doctor whose wife suffers from Hodgkin’s disease and his work with vampire bats, whose saliva has been known to dissolve blood clots that cause strokes. As he explores mutating the saliva to treat other illnesses—like Hodgkin’s—he is visited by a vampire who offers him a cure. Most of my readers laugh when I tell them about this, but my husband had a fantastic idea for this story more than twenty years ago and my agent loved it. It’s finally time to write it. So it will probably be a couple of years before it is ready for readers. But thank you for asking.
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2015. Prospect Park, Pennsylvania. Suzanne Ryan uncovers her grandmother’s diary hidden in the binding of a century-old photo album. Thrilled to learn about her grandmother, Maude, who died before Suzanne was born, she reads the first entry, written on Maude’s tenth birthday.
1915. Prospect Park, Pennsylvania. Maude Brewer, her brother, Henry, and his best friend, Buzz Ryan, live a relatively care-free existence. But the darkening conflict in Europe looms, threatening them all with the fight of their lives.
At the same time, across the ocean, darkness has already fallen as the Germans march into neutral Belgium and shatter the life of nurse Marthe Peeters, whose family is viciously killed right in front of her. She is captured and forced to travel with the German Army, each step escalating the rage in her heart that explodes into plans for revenge.
But as Maude’s story unfolds through the years, it intersects with Marthe’s and despite the fact that an ocean separates them, it is clear that the two women share their perspectives on the war. They also, Suzanne learns, share the love of the same man, Buzz Ryan, Suzanne’s grandfather. Buzz must not only fight the war on the battlefield, he must also fight the war within his heart.
The Road Renounced
The Road Renounced by Kaye D. Schmitz is a historical fiction story that follows the ugly effects of war, following people far from the battlefield. World War I was devasting, and while it’s a fictional account, the story tugs at the heartstrings.
The story begins with three characters at different places and times. In 2015, in Pennsylvania, Suzanne Ryan discovers her grandmother Maude’s diary. She learns that back in 1915, Maude Brewer was living on the family farm with her parents and brother Henry who spent much of his time with Buzz Ryan, his best friend. Their lives are abruptly impacted by the first world war, with death and despair.
When you initially start reading The Road Renounced and weave through the three characters and their perspectives, you’ll eagerly want to find how they intercept and what makes their lives connect. The author does a great job of pulling the curiosity out of readers, keeping them on edge until all three storylines converge. It’s a fantastic read that will keep you turning one page after the next.
I found this book well-written, and the author didn’t shy away from the horrors of war on the battlefield, back home, and with the remaining family members awaiting any news. The characters are complex and intriguing, and the story doesn’t pull away from the brutality of war and the issues that arise behind people’s closed doors. Schmitz does a great job of handling the dual storylines and integrating them together.
The Road Renounced by Kaye D. Schmitz is an excellent, 5-star read that will keep you reading from start to finish. Highly recommended!
Pages 382 | ASIN: B0BLYDJ1WB
It Turned Out To Be Chilling And Brutal
The Road Renounced follows a mourning woman as she goes through her father’s things and discovers the diary of her grandmother, that died before she was born. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The premise for the setup of this book, which follows my last novel, presented itself to me before I had even finished writing The Road Remembered. That earlier book explores Sam Ryan’s family, where we learn that his father, Buzz, was a less than stellar parent. I knew that my own father’s father was, in fact, a less than stellar parent, and there are some parallels between the life of my father’s mother and Sam’s mother. While my real grandfather was not a drunk (as far as I could learn), he had a habit of leaving my grandmother alone much of the time with no or very little money—and eight children to care for.
Like Sam, who spent much of his life wondering how his father could have abandoned his mother, I wondered what got into my grandfather to leave my grandmother alone so much with all those mouths to feed. No one in the family had a good answer and since my own father WAS a stellar parent, I couldn’t understand the thought process my grandfather must have gone through to have been okay with leaving my grandmother alone the way he did. So I began thinking of reasons my grandfather may have had for leaving. Was he disappointed with his life and searching for a better one? Or at least a different one? As I speculated all manner of things that could have gone through my grandfather’s head, as often happens, the characters, themselves, reached out to me and told their own story rather than, I believe, my grandfather’s story. It turned out to be chilling and brutal. Much worse than my grandparent’s real life story.
And, since I knew that everyone who could have related the fictional story to Sam’s daughter was dead, I had to think of another way to tell the story to my readers. So I told it in layers—Suzanne reading her grandmother’s diary to get the big picture and then the scene morphing into that particular point in time so the reader could learn the “as-they-happened” details. My early readers and the Literary Titan reviewer have led me to believe that that story-telling style worked.
Suzanne learns of her family’s past and about how alike she and her grandmother are. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
The primary ideal was women’s strength and how strong women do whatever is necessary to care for their children and keep a roof over their heads. While Suzanne wasn’t faced with raising children alone the way Maude was—Suzanne’s husband didn’t die until her son was grown—she still had to face life alone once he died and then the day-to-day trials of caring for her father. So while we didn’t have a chance to explore the depth of Suzanne’s strength, we certainly saw how strong Maude was.
Another huge ideal was dealing with emotional impact as a result of external factors. In Maude’s case, she had to deal with losing her brother, her mother, and then her father in addition to figuring out how she would cope when she realized she couldn’t count on Buzz. In Suzanne’s case, it was dealing with losing her husband, then her father and finally, realizing that she couldn’t share what she had found out about her grandfather with his remaining children.
And of course, both women shared their fierce love of family.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Since the story takes place during the first World War, I wanted to explore the themes surrounding what leads to and takes place during global fighting. The overarching thing I tried to get across was the emotion generated from all aspects of the war—the dread of having to leave your home and go and fight someone with whom you had no quarrel, the heartsickness of those left behind, the devastation when loved ones are lost, and finally, the realization that a few people decide the fate of the world and that foot soldiers are simply pawns in the process. One of the things that upset me the most was the fact that so many soldiers died needlessly on the last day of the fighting because one general didn’t agree with the armistice.
Other themes included how the world handled the Spanish flu, especially given the fact that we are still recovering from the COVID pandemic. I also wanted to explore women’s rights—or in this case, lack of them. There were many times, as I researched, that I was shocked at what women had to endure a mere hundred years ago. And because of the time in history, it was also important to bring in tidbits about prohibition and the Great Depression.
Mostly, I wanted to write a satisfying story of human emotion and a mother’s determination to keep her family together during difficult times as Maude, first, reinvented herself to leave home and get a job, and then—always—focused on maintaining her selfless devotion to and love for her children.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am currently exploring an idea for a third book in the “Road” series that would focus on Sam’s remaining siblings. I haven’t gotten very far with this one yet, so it may be 2024 before that one is ready. And of course, like any writer, a myriad of other ideas are chasing around in my head and working to take shape.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
2015. Prospect Park, Pennsylvania. Suzanne Ryan uncovers her grandmother’s diary hidden in the binding of a century-old photo album. Thrilled to learn about her grandmother, Maude, who died before Suzanne was born, she reads the first entry, written on Maude’s tenth birthday.
1915. Prospect Park, Pennsylvania. Maude Brewer, her brother, Henry, and his best friend, Buzz Ryan, live a relatively care-free existence. But the darkening conflict in Europe looms, threatening them all with the fight of their lives.
At the same time, across the ocean, darkness has already fallen as the Germans march into neutral Belgium and shatter the life of nurse Marthe Peeters, whose family is viciously killed right in front of her. She is captured and forced to travel with the German Army, each step escalating the rage in her heart that explodes into plans for revenge.
But as Maude’s story unfolds through the years, it intersects with Marthe’s and despite the fact that an ocean separates them, it is clear that the two women share their perspectives on the war. They also, Suzanne learns, share the love of the same man, Buzz Ryan, Suzanne’s grandfather. Buzz must not only fight the war on the battlefield, he must also fight the war within his heart.
The Road Renounced
Packing up her father’s effects ahead of his funeral, Sam Ryan’s daughter discovers her grandmother’s diary. Her reading takes us on a twisting journey through history – WWI, the Spanish flu, prohibition, and the depression. Moving back and forth between the present and the past, from the USA to Belgium, Kaye Schmitz’s The Road Renounced straddles time and space. Finally, the worlds converge when her grandfather, an aspiring baseball player, goes to war and, once more, briefly, at her father’s funeral. By then, we know a whole lot about her grandparents’ life that the narrator wisely chooses not to tell the rest of the family.
One would expect a book that presents graphic scenes of war, alcoholism, spousal abuse, and suicide to be depressing. Not this one. The Road Renounced is a pleasure to read from start to finish. The opening “Letter to My Readers” pulls readers in immediately because Kaye Schmitz talks to them like an old friend, just like Maude writes in her diary. “Who would have thought a diary from a hundred years ago would have kept you glued like this?” (305) The narrator’s curiosity and compassion compel readers to read on. They might even do just as she did, for example, searching on Google for a song her father sang.
Weaving family history, homage, and meticulous research, Schmitz creates engaging scenes with a Forrest Gump effect – recognizable historical moments revisited with a fictional character present. Need to know where historical fact ends and fiction begins? Check out the detailed “Author’s note” at the novel’s end. The structure is masterful. Logical devices bridge the spatial gap till our Americans arrive in Europe. And then there is the trunk to link the past and present. There are concerns about women’s rights, war and patriotism, parental responsibilities, self-esteem, and mental health. Readers will be left with much to consider as they follow along on this journey with the protagonist.
The Road Renounced is a gripping drama and family saga that takes historical events and gives them a personal touch. Readers will find themselves drawn into the lives of this family as they learn about their past, good and bad, and are compelled to see the story through and learn who these people really are.
Pages: 440 | ASIN : B0BLVVVJYJ
LITERARY TITAN 