What's Done Is Done, Or Is It?: Family Secrets, Bread Baking, and a Life in Books, with Jane Ward

This week on Windowsill Chats, Margo is joined by novelist Jane Ward, author of four books, including her latest, Should Have Told You Sooner. With a lifelong love of storytelling, cooking, baking, and art, Jane has built a creative life rooted in curiosity, observation, and finding inspiration in unexpected places.

Jane began writing her first novel, Hunger, nearly thirty years ago while living in Iceland with her Navy husband, finding space for storytelling during the long, dark winters. Since then, she's continued exploring the complexities of human relationships through fiction, often weaving together themes of family secrets, forgiveness, regret, and the things we leave unsaid. Her latest novel was inspired by something as simple as a lawn sign spotted during an early morning dog walk.

Margo and Jane discuss:

The meaning behind the question on Jane's website, "What's done is done. Or is it?" and why the past has a way of resurfacing

Writing about family secrets, forgiveness, and the complicated relationships that make us human

How Jane develops fictional characters who begin to feel like real people

Finding inspiration in unexpected places, including the lawn sign that sparked her latest novel

The creative freedom found in bread baking, photography, travel, and other everyday pursuits

Her upcoming sequel and its exploration of motherhood in all its complicated forms

The importance of making space for creativity outside of your primary artistic practice

Jane's plans for a Gothic novel set in Switzerland, inspired by her childhood love of Daphne du Maurier

Connect with Jane Ward: