New Books Network Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, "Mutual Interest" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Sep 29, 2025
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, a talented novelist recognized for her works including Glassworks, dives into her latest historical novel, Mutual Interest. She shares her research on turn-of-the-century New York, exploring subway history and its marvels. The discussion highlights themes of queer chosen family and the complexity of outcast identities through a trio of protagonists. Olivia also touches on societal perceptions of intimacy, the historical challenges of women's mobility, and the intriguing interplay between ambition and industrial capitalism.
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Why Fin De Siècle New York Matters
- Olivia chose fin de siècle New York because it marks the infrastructural and social birth of the city we recognize today.
- That era's technological and societal upheaval mirrored the present and seeded narrative possibilities for change.
Power Of A Trio Of Outcasts
- Wolfgang-Smith designed the trio of outcasts to amplify both collaboration and conflict beyond a lone protagonist's arc.
- Three characters create more spiraling complications and richer relational dynamics than one or two would.
Obsession As Inventive Force
- Squire is written as likely neurodivergent, whose obsessions power both social friction and inventive business thinking.
- His fixations let the novel explore daily thought and labor that typical wealthy characters are usually abstracted from.
