Photo by Aaron Blumenshine
Stacey Lee is the author of the new young adult novel Heiress of Nowhere. Her other books include The Downstairs Girl. She is a founder of the We Need Diverse Books movement.
Q: What inspired you to write Heiress of Nowhere, and how did you create your character Lucy?
A: A character always begins with one central truth, and for Lucy, it was that she felt unmoored. She arrives on the island estate in a canoe, with no memory of who placed her there or where she came from—only that a shipbuilding magnate takes her in as a serving girl before his untimely death.
I knew from the start that she would inherit his estate, and that her search for identity would parallel her hunt for the killer—before she becomes the next victim.
Lucy is the “oldest” character I’ve created, in terms of emotional maturity, and writing her allowed me to explore new dimensions of character—especially love and romantic vulnerability.
But at the heart of her story isn’t just a question of who am I?—it’s where do I belong? She’s a girl desperate to find her roots and to feel connected to someone, to something, in a world that keeps her at arm’s length. That search for connection—for kinship, for a sense of home—is what drives every choice she makes.
Q: The author Isabel Ibañez called the book a “dazzling, twist-filled mystery about love, identity and ambition...” What do you think of that description?
A: I love it. Writing historical fiction is, for me, not just about reclaiming forgotten stories but about showing how the social mores of a particular era shape a person’s destiny.
Lucy’s situation—a girl of no standing, burdened with a heretical birthmark, suddenly in charge of a multimillion-dollar estate—pushes her into conflict with every power structure around her.
I like to make things as difficult as possible for my characters—it’s part of the fun! Watching them rise (or fail to rise) to those challenges is where the story’s energy comes from.
Q: The story is set on Orcas Island, Washington, in 1918. How important is setting to you in your work?
A: Setting is everything—it’s the first thing I think about. I like to vary both geography and era so readers can explore new corners of the world with me. I spent time in my 20s in the Pacific Northwest and even passed the Washington bar exam, fully expecting to live there one day.
What I love about that region is how the land and sea are always in conversation. Nature gets right up close to you—the zesty conifer smells, the luminous summer days that more than make up for the brooding winters. Writing this book was a way to live there, a century earlier.
Q: How did you research the book, and what surprised you most?
A: Alongside library research, I spent time on Orcas Island speaking with naturalists, historians, librarians, and artists. I toured a salmon cannery in Vancouver to learn about fishing practices, explored historic boats in Anacortes, and hiked Mount Constitution—which I renamed Mount Consternation in the book and gave it more attitude.
One moment that stayed with me was speaking to a whale expedition naturalist about murrelets, a mysterious seabird that features in the novel. Her face lit up—turns out she’d written her Ph.D. thesis on them! She told me a dozen or so lived nearby but were brooding, so I never saw one in person—but knowing they were there added a kind of quiet magic to the writing process.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m in that delicious in-between stage—listening for what story wants to speak next. I have a strong sense the sea is calling me again, but perhaps in a very different part of the world this time.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Only that Heiress of Nowhere is, at its heart, about finding belonging in places that weren’t built to hold you. It’s gothic and romantic, yes—but it’s also about resilience, reinvention, and the courage to claim your story, even when no one else will.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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