SPOTLIGHT w/INTERVIEW - MEMOIR - LITTLE SISTER by Patricia Walsh Chadwick

LITTLE SISTER: A Memoir

by Patricia Walsh Chadwick

April 2019

Post Hill Press

Memoirs

BLURB

They promised her heaven, but there was no savior.

Imagine an eighteen-year-old American girl who has never read a newspaper, watched television, or made a phone call. An eighteen-year-old-girl who has never danced—and this in the 1960s.

It is in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Leonard Feeney, a controversial (soon to be excommunicated) Catholic priest, has founded a religious community called the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Center's members—many of them educated at Harvard and Radcliffe—surrender all earthly possessions and aspects of their life, including their children, to him. Patricia Chadwick was one of those children, and Little Sister is her account of growing up in the Feeney sect.

Separated from her parents and forbidden to speak to them, Patricia bristles against the community’s draconian rules, yearning for another life. When, at seventeen, she is banished from the Center, her home, she faces the world alone, without skills, family, or money but empowered with faith and a fierce determination to succeed on her own, which she does, rising eventually to the upper echelons of the world of finance and investing.

A tale of resilience and grace, Little Sister chronicles, in riveting prose, a surreal childhood and does so without rancor or self-pity.

Author Info

Patricia’s unorthodox upbringing – in an excommunicated Catholic commune – is the subject of her first book, a memoir entitled, LITTLE SISTER. From her infancy in 1948 until the age of 17, she, and the nearly 100 members of the community, including her parents and four siblings, lived a life shielded from the outside world – without television, radio, newspapers or any exposure to the events of the day.

At the age of 17, she was kicked out and faced the world without family, money, advice or the opportunity to attend college.

From that inauspicious beginning, Patricia began the long trek of her career, starting as a receptionist in the Boston office of Ladenburg, Thalmann, a brokerage and investment banking firm. By dint of sheer determination, she worked her way up the long corporate ladder. For nine years, she attended college in the evening, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Boston University’s Metropolitan College, with a degree in Economics.

Moving to New York in 1975, she capitalized on the opportunities in the financial world, eventually becoming a Global Partner at Invesco. Along the way, she developed a passion for the opera, theater and global travel.

In her fifties, Patricia embarked on a second career, as an expert witness and a corporate board director, allowing her the flexibility to raise her twin children.

Today, in addition to her board work, Patricia dedicates much of her time to pro bono activities. She sits on the advisory board of Boston University’s Metropolitan College, and chairs the advisory board of Elon University’s Love School of Business. She is also a member of the board of The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York and The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut.

For more than twenty years, Patricia has been dedicated to mentoring inner city girls in the Catholic school system in New York City. Today she sits on the advisory board of Partnership Schools and Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem where she works with middle school girls, whose motto is: Dare to hope, promise and dream.

In 2016, Patricia co-founded a health care company, Anchor Health Initiative, which provides primary care to the LGBTQ community in Connecticut.

For more information on the author, go to www.patriciachadwick.com

The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with . . . Patricia Walsh Chadwick . . .

How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?

I love to create vivid scenes with a sense of tension – that drive the reader forward. As a memoir writer – i.e. telling a true story. I keep my chapters short and try to end each one in a way that makes the reader want to turn the page. 

Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?

It took me ten years to write my memoir, Little Sister. After 30 years on Wall Street, where writing was meant to be a series of bullet points, I had to learn the craft of creative writing. I spent six years attending memoir writing sessions and today I have become addicted to creative writing. 

While writing Little Sister, I sometimes found myself blocked – I could sit at my desk and feel as though a boulder was blocking my ability to write. At other times, I could write effortlessly for hours without stopping. I’m not sure I can pinpoint what caused those polar opposite experiences, but I’m quite sure they are part of the experience of being a writer.  

What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?

I like to see the sky when I’m writing. That being said, I often write at night and I have to admit that maybe the luxury of looking at the sky is more of a distraction in the process of writing.  

Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details? 

I’m currently working on my second book – another memoir. It’s the story of starting out as an 18-year-old receptionist at a brokerage firm in Boston, with only a secretarial school education, but with an immense desire to be successful (without knowing how to define that). With a combination of both luck and pluck, I clawed my way up the corporate ladder in the world of Wall Street that was devoid of professional women. The book will include many funny and even outrageous stories. Hopefully it will also be a story of resilience and even help others face the challenges in the real world of business. 

What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?

I’ve become addicted to writing. I try to write a blog every week or two and I’m a columnist for a local newspaper. I write on matters that range from the economy, life in general, or humorous events. 

When writing a blog, I can often write it quite quickly. Then I put it aside, for a few hours or overnight. When I next pick it up, I usually change it 

Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?

I have difficulty controlling my pent-up energy. I’m an explorer – a student of life – even at the age of 71.

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