Julia Brewer Daily is the best-selling, multi-award-winning author of No Names to Be Given and The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch.
She was the Executive Director of the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi where she wrote the stories of 300 artisans from 19 states to introduce them to the public.A multi-faceted talent, Julia has been an educator, Communications Adjunct Professor at Belhaven College, administrator, and Public Relations Director of the Mississippi Department of Education and Millsaps College. She was the founding director of the Greater Belhaven Market, a producers’ only market in a historic neighborhood in Jackson.She even shadowed Martha Stewart.
An active member of the literary community, Julia hosts the Authors Over 50 Podcast, featuring award-winning writers, entrepreneurs, journalists and bestselling authors. Julia is also a member of the Writers’ League of Texas, the Women Fiction Writers’ Association, The Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club, Women Writing the West, and the Women’s National Book Association.
This one-on-one interview shares Julia’s background and experience in writing her debut novel, No Names to Be Given.
Tell us about No Names to Be Given.
In 1966, three young, unwed women meet at a maternity home hospital in New Orleans, where due to family and societal pressures, are expected to relinquish their babies and return home as if nothing transpired. However, such life-altering events can never be forgotten, and no secret remains buried forever.
Twenty-five years later, the women are reunited by a blackmailer, who threatens to expose their secrets and destroy the lives they’ve built. This shattering revelation shakes their very foundations—and reverberates all the way to the White House.
A heartbreaking but uplifting novel of family and redemption, No Names to Be Given offers a glimpse into the lives of women forced by society to gift their newborns to strangers. Although the novel is a fictional account, it mirrors many of the adoption stories of its era, and the ripple effect of the horrific decisions made, across the country and generations.
What inspired you to write No Names to Be Given?
The main idea of the story came from my own life. When I was just two months old, I was adopted from The Methodist Home Hospital in New Orleans.
Just as my siblings and cousins knew their places of origin, my parents wanted me to know mine as well. So we visited the maternity home and a seed of inspiration planted in my mind.
Later, I searched and found my birth mother and through DNA results, my birth father's family.
My own story led me to placing threads of memoir into the book, and inspired me to write about women in 1966 who met at the hospital in New Orleans.
How did your background and experience influence your writing?
Today's readers are mesmerized by a time they know little, if anything, about. However, the period of time when this took place, the Baby Scoop Era, was only about fifty years ago, from the 1940s-1980s.
I felt strongly about sharing this story having lived those years as an adoptee from a maternity home and hearing stories about that time from my birth mother. In addition, 100 million Americans have adoption in their immediate families, so it is a very pertinent subject.
Now, I am hearing from other adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth mothers to relate their own stories.
What is one message you would like readers to remember?
Women's issues have been around for a very long time. Still, we have not figured out the best avenues, especially concerning adoption and abortion.
My aim in sharing this story is to help bring to life some of the relevant, challenging and emotional experiences from the past to raise awareness about important issues so we can work together to find better solutions.
Hopefully, history doesn't repeat itself.
Purchasing the Book
A gripping novel with an important message, No Names to Be Given is available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Nook, Google Play, and other online bookstores.
Readers who enjoy original, captivating historical fiction are encouraged to purchase their copy today: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998426172
Connect with Author Julia Brewer Daily
Website: https://www.juliadaily.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaDailyAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JuliaDailyAuthor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/JBDailyAuthor
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