Samantha Greene Woodruff
Author Interview - Samantha Greene Woodruff
Author of The Trade Off
A brilliant and ambitious young woman strives to find her place amid the promise and tumult of 1920s Wall Street in a captivating historical novel by the author of The Lobotomist’s Wife.
Bea Abramovitz has a gift for math and numbers. With her father, she studies the burgeoning Wall Street market’s stocks and patterns in the financial pages. After college she’s determined to parlay her talent for the prediction game into personal and professional success. But in the 1920s, in a Lower East Side tenement, opportunities for women don’t just come knocking. Bea will have to create them.
It’s easier for her golden-boy twin brother, Jake, who longs to reclaim all their parents lost after fleeing the pogroms in Russia to come to America. Well intentioned but undisciplined, Jake has a charm that can carry him only so far on Wall Street. So Bea devises a plan. They’ll be a secret team, and she’ll be the brains behind the broker. As Jake’s reputation, his heedless ego, and the family fortune soar, Bea foresees catastrophe: an impending crash that could destroy everything if she doesn’t finally take control.
Inspired by the true story of a pioneering investment legend, The Trade Off is a powerful novel about identity, sacrifice, family loyalties, and the complex morality of money.
Author Interview - Samantha Greene Woodruff
Author I draw inspiration from:
Fiona Davis is masterful at well-written reads in historical settings, with characters you care about and a page-turning plot. I’ve loved all her books but especially The Magnolia Palace, there was just something about that 1960s model. Allison Pataki writes compelling, impeccably researched books about women in history you likely haven’t heard of before. I was constantly saying to myself “how did I knot know this?” when reading The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post and Finding Margaret Fuller. Marie Benedict also does a phenomenal job of writing the untold women-behind-the-famous-men stories. I think my favorite of hers was The Only Woman in the Room. And Martha Hall Kelly blows me away with her realistic world building. My jaw hung open at how completely I was transported to revolutionary Russia in The Lost Roses. I just kept wondering “how does she do that so well?”
Author Interview - Samantha Greene Woodruff | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
On a lounge chair in the shade by a pool or beach. But that rarely happens. The place I read most often is in bed -- I read every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes, if there is nothing that I must get up for in the morning, like taking my kids to school, I’ll indulge in a chapter or two when I first wake up. That feels like heaven to me.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Ada Heller, aka “Aunt Ada” in Sara Goodman Confino’s Don’t Forget to Write. I’d start to freak out and get claustrophobic and she’d hand me a handkerchief to blot my sweat, as she firmly told me to calm down. I’d compliment her incredible purse, and she’d tell me about never settling for anything less than the best. By the time we leave the elevator, she’d be my surrogate “Aunt Ada” too and, from then on, I’d turn to her for strength and advice about how to be fierce.
Author Interview - Samantha Greene Woodruff | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
2016. I was taking a continuing education writing class, Beginning Novel Writing, at Sarah Lawrence College. I’d always loved to write, but most of my writing was expository or business oriented – I wrote excellent strategy and market research presentations. I hadn’t ever considered writing a novel, in part because I believed I wrote best when dealing in facts. But I liked the freedom of fiction and learned so much in class that I kept going back, semester after semester. I hit a point where I had a strong idea (the idea for my first novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife), and limited time, and I had to pick between taking writing classes and trying to be a writer. I picked the latter and feel like it is what I was always meant to do but just didn’t know it.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I have pretty standard categories for when I turn to each of these. Nearly all my pleasure reading is done on either kindle or audiobook. Kindle because my eyes have gotten SO BAD that I love the ability to adjust the font; also, I read a lot before bed, so I like the backlight. And then there’s the fact that I don’t have to weigh down my suitcase when I travel with a stack of books.
With two teenagers who aren’t driving age yet, I am in the car a lot. That’s when I turn to audio. I used to listen to non-fiction and read fiction, but not anymore. I listen to whatever is on my TBR that I am not currently reading on my kindle.
I LOVE physical books even though they aren’t as easy for me to read. I honestly don’t discriminate between hardcover and paperback. A lot of more popular fiction (my books included) don’t even get a hardcover release so, for me, all physical books are created equal, and I buy them to support authors and have a visual representation of what I’ve read. I also prefer the physical book for research because I’m a big note taker, underliner, page folder-overer. If I need to easily refer back, I sacrifice eye-strain for a physical book.
The last book I read:
I’m currently reading Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams and loving it. It is a departure from her other books in that the present-day timeline reads like an Annabel Monaghan summer romance (I consider that high praise, I love her books,) and then Beatriz also gives you this story of a complex woman in Egypt in the early 1950s. I’d happily read either timeline as its own novel and can’t wait to see how she ultimately weaves them together.
Author Interview - Samantha Greene Woodruff | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I’m all computer. I think initially it evolved out of the fact that I don’t write in cursive – all caps, block print – which is quite slow. But at this point, typing is like a signal to my brain that it’s time to write. I like things structured and organized so, when I’m writing, I do this dance between being a plotter and a "panther.” I know where my story is going to end, for the most part, when I begin. And I make an outline of sorts – basically a very loose map of what will happen in each chapter. But it is all on my computer. And once I have a structure, I give myself permission to completely change it as the story evolves and leave lots of room for things to “just happen” as I’m writing. And then I revise my outline.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
This might be too on the nose but Bea Abramowitz from my forthcoming novel The Trade Off. I love her go-getter spirit tempered by moments of self-doubt. And she has an innate ability to forgive that I admire. Bea is also definitely kinder than I am, she puts up with a lot. And she’s much, much better at math.
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I found writing in mid-life. I started working on The Lobotomist’s Wife when I was 44 and was 47 when it was published. So, for me, this is my dream job. That said, for most of my career I did marketing and business strategy. And in an alternate universe I’d be a rock star.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I love fashion and can give you reasons why I love every era, but right now I’m feeling very 1920s, which is when The Trade Off takes place. When most people think ‘20s, it’s flapper -- fringe and feathers. That was part of the look, but this was also the first time women’s clothing had a more androgynous feel – spectator shoes and drop waist dresses and all that. And then there was the “exotic” style with silk cocoon dresses and lots of stands of beads. I’ve been on a mission to find outfits in the colors of my book cover (tangerines and greys and browns) that also have a ‘20s feel and having so much fun with it. I’m even on the verge of cutting my hair into a bob.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I’ve had a regular yoga practice for more than twenty years, and I’ve always wanted to go to India. Haven’t made it yet, in part, because I’m worried about spending the whole trip with a bad tummy and being overwhelmed by the poverty. But maybe when my kids are older, we will all go together.
My signature drink:
Tie between wine and tequila on the rocks with a splash of soda and lime.
Favorite artist:
Taylor Swift. She’s a genius.
Number one on my bucket list:
Going on a writer’s retreat.
Anything else you'd like to add:
In addition to The Trade Off, I’m contributed an essay to the forthcoming anthology On Being Jewish Now edited by Zibby Owens. Given the rise of antisemitism in our world, I’m very proud to have been a part of this special project.
Find more from the author:
www.samanthawoodruff.com
Instagram / Threads: @samgwoodruffauthor
Facebook: Sam G Woodruff Author
linktr.ee/samgwoodruffauthor
About Samantha Greene Woodruff:
Author Interview - Samantha Greene Woodruff
Samantha Greene Woodruff has a BA in history from Wesleyan University and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. She spent most of her career telling stories to executives at MTV Networks as the senior vice president of strategy and business development and, subsequently, audience research for Viacom’s Nickelodeon Group.
After leaving corporate life to become a full-time mom, Sam spent her newfound “free” time, teaching yoga (a long time passion,) becoming a dog-lover, writing a humor column for suburbs101.com (Seriously, Sam?,) and taking classes in fiction writing at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. It was here that she found her true calling as a historical fiction author, a job that she believes perfectly combines her multifaceted background with her wild imagination and passion for history, reading, and writing. Sam’s debut novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife, was an #1 Amazon bestseller and First Reads pick. Her second novel, The Trade Off, will be released October 8th and her essay “Jew-ish” will appear in the forthcoming anthology On Being Jewish Now edited by Zibby Owens.
Sam lives in southern Connecticut with her husband, two teenage children, two dogs and a small reptile zoo. When she’s not with her family or at her laptop, she can be found in the yoga studio, at a concert, singing Taylor Swift at the top of her lungs in the car, or out for a long walk with a friend.
