Jessica Levine always wanted to write about women. But Three Cousins is more than that. The book, based on Jessica’s real life and family, is about the variety of responses to the women’s movement of the 1970s—specifically ideas about sexual freedom, queer identity, relationships, careers, and life paths that resonate to this day.
Robin, Anna, and Julia, the three cousins in this tale, chart very different lives for themselves in this beautifully written and resonant historical fiction. But above all, they tell a story that feels very familiar to every woman who came before them and to all who have come after. That’s something Levine understands really well.
Here, the author discusses what’s behind the book, and
How have you seen the women’s movement change from the time period of Three Cousins to today?
Over the past 40-50 years, the women’s movement has had its successes and failures. Ground that was gained has been lost (Dobbs v. Jackson) and some ground was never won (the E.R.A.); however, Title IX, #metoo, and gay marriage would never have happened without the feminist fight. What a mix, and how do we sort it out? On the one hand, the basics we fought for (universal childcare, women’s health, maternal leave, etc) have not been achieved. On the other hand, the LGBQT movement has made gains, more women have entered the professions, and marriage is no longer destiny.
Unfortunately what I’m sensing and seeing at present is a certain discouragement and battle fatigue that predate the Trump victory. Many young women have “given up” on men and relationships. They don’t discuss the patriarchy, male privilege, etc. anymore. They just look at each other and roll their eyes as in, “gal we’re all thinking the same thing, that guys are hopeless, so why even talk about it? Just order another round of drinks.” Many women who actually are in relationships aren’t much happier once the honeymoon phase is over. The fundamental sense of men and women as different “species” has only deepened. The silver lining is that that alienation has opened up a space in which the non-binary, trans, and queer communities are inviting us to imagine things differently.
Why did you decide to intertwine the different journeys of three characters to create your story?
Women coming of age in the 1970s had new freedoms they often didn’t know how to use. In my novel the three cousins each have differing strategies which are determined both by their personalities and by their upbringing, by nature as well as nurture. There was no one right response to the changing times. My three cousins represent a range of attitudes from the more conventional to the wildly adventurous.
The mothers of the three cousins in your novel form an important supporting cast in your novels. Why was it important for you to include them?
I’ve always been interested in the generational transmission of life knowledge – how our parents and ancestors teach us how to be, think, feel, and act in any situation. The three cousins, as they come of age, may rebel against their mothers, but remain influenced by what they learned from them. The mother-daughter relationships in the novel remind us that, in order to liberate themselves, women must challenge not only the patriarchy but also what their mothers taught and modeled for them.
Discuss the other two books in this series. How does Three Cousins connect to them?
The Cousins Series will ultimately consist of five novels, of which two are yet to be written, that follow three women from their early 20s into their sixties. The books can be read in chronological order or as standalones. Whereas Three Cousins follows Julia, Anna, and Robin in their last year of college, The Geometry of Love focuses on Julia in her early 30s with a fast-forward to ten years later, and Nothing Forgotten starts with Anna in her 40s with flashbacks to her life in Rome in her early 20s. The next novel I write will concern Robyn in middle age.
How did your relationship with your cousins and your family inspire your series?
A cousin of mine who has read my previous two novels said to me, “Everything in here feels familiar, but I don’t recognize anyone.” That was my aim. I took the structure and history of my family and played freely with it, inventing characters that would contrast with each other in dramatic ways. My family did indeed inspire my series; however, I have sought to reinvent it in order to address the obstacles that my generation and my mother’s generation have faced: the lack of female role models, the frustrating expectations placed on women, and the disappointments of intimate relationships and the workplace.
Three Cousins will be available on April 13.
