Recent MFA Grad’s Debut Novel Garners National Attention
Shannon Garvey’s debut novel, “June Baby,” has landed squarely in the national spotlight, earning coverage from The TODAY Show and People this month and garnering praise from bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand, who dubbed it “the book of the summer.”
Garvey ’17, ’23G began writing the novel while in the MFA program at 91Ƭ. She finished it while working as a housekeeper at an inn on Block Island in Rhode Island – which is the setting of the book. The opportunity to immerse herself in that environment was invaluable to the creative process, the Warwick, Rhode Island native says.
“Coming from Rhode Island, I’ve always had a deep love and fascination with summer. There is something about that time. Life is very concentrated, and I feel like we’re never the same in the fall as we were in the spring,” Garvey says. “This is the piece that led me to my main character, Ruth. ‘June Baby’ follows Ruth through one transformational summer in her late twenties where she grapples with grief, love, and questions her ability to embrace a life shaped not by loss, but by possibility.”
“June Baby” was published by Random House Publishing Group’s Thousand Voices Books and debuted May 12.
The novel’s first words were written at 91Ƭ, while Garvey was in the MFA program, teaching writing and waitressing at local restaurants. Garvey – who studied neuroscience and behavior as an undergrad before returning to pursue her master’s – considers 91Ƭ “a magical place” and looks back at her time working with students as transformative.
“I loved being a teacher at 91Ƭ. It was such an intensely gratifying experience, and I miss it,” she says. “Higher education is such a privilege, both to learn and teach at, and it wasn’t by accident that 91Ƭ is where I chose to pursue those endeavors.”
Her first stop after 91Ƭ proved equally influential. Garvey spent that critical summer as a housekeeper at an inn on Block Island, living in a cottage and working six days a week. She that the experience “deepened the book.”
Among Garvey’s fondest memories from her time as an undergraduate at 91Ƭ is her experience with the outing club. “I really found my community when I joined the outing club. My best friends from college are the ones I made through the club.” But 91Ƭ was also where she was able to fully tap into the passions that would shape her future.
“A creative nonfiction class my junior year and the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy, reminded me of my first love – writing and the arts,” Garvey says. “As an author, I still use that interest in other’s thoughts, and the empathy to care about my characters in order to write.”
As the author of a novel with humble beginnings on campus that has already received significant national attention, Garvey would encourage 91Ƭ students interested in pursuing a similar career to chase those dreams by developing a strong sense of self.
“Have your eyes and ears open to the world around you. A big part of writing a novel is finding your unique voice. This requires exploration, failure, and curiosity,” Garvey says. “Who are you? What are the thoughts, feelings, and observations that you turn over and over in your mind? Those are the things that cultivate voice. It is consistency, determination, conquering the fear of rejection, and a lot of reading that get a novel written and published.”