In the real world, the efforts of philanthropist, former doll-mogul and Wells alumna Pleasant Rowland to buy and renovate certain structures in Aurora have generated a fair amount divisiveness in the village and attention on both a local and national scale.
In author J. Robert Lennon's fictional world, the efforts of doll-mogul Happy Masters to buy and renovate buildings in Equinox, N.Y., a small village 37 miles southwest of Syracuse, generate a fair amount of divisiveness there, too.
The similarities, Lennon said, largely end there.
The first and second parts of Lennon's novel, “Happyland,” were published in the July and August editions of Harper's Magazine. While he doesn't deny that he received inspiration from the events unfolding in Aurora for his novel, Lennon said the actual story is wholly fiction.
“A few plot elements are probably inspired by real events - for instance, the controversy over the Inn - but they play out in very different ways,” he said. “My character is really nothing like Mrs. Rowland, as far as I know. I truly did make her up from nothing.”
The first installment of Lennon's story introduces Happy as a strong but troubled woman. She happens to drive through Equinox, decides to purchase a house, then decides she will turn Equinox into “her Vatican, her Salt Lake, her Jerusalem,” where young fans of Happy Girls, her doll company, can come to visit.
Lennon taught for a year at Wells in 2000. It was during that time, he said, that he was persuaded to write a novel loosely based on the situation in Aurora.
The novel took about two years to write, he said. During that time, he received correspondence from people in Aurora who had heard he was working on a novel and wanted to give him additional insights into the village's situation - Lennon said he sent those e-mails back unopened.
“The fun, for me, is making stuff up,” he said.
One thing Lennon said very closely resembles reality is the sense of place. Equinox is located in upstate New York and is situated near another village just to the north called Unionville. The village is located on a lake and is also home to a small, women's college.
The character of Happy Masters, on the other hand, is wholly a creation of Lennon's imagination, he said. However, the publishing company that was first slated to release the book apparently believed there could be legal concerns stemming from “the overlap between Lennon's fictional doll manufacturer and the woman behind American Girl,” according to a Publisher's Weekly article last May. Rowland started the American Girl company, which is now owned by Mattel.
Lennon believes Norton, the publishing company, was “quite worried about Mrs. Rowland.”
“She didn't pressure them or anything,” he said. “I believe they were simply paranoid.”
The Norton company has not said either way whether legal concerns were the reason behind the sudden cancellation.
Following the issues with Norton, however, the opportunity at Harper's arose after a friend described the saga of the cancellation to the editor at Harper's. Now, a slightly shortened version of the novel is being run over five issues - the first which was released in this month's issue.
Lennon hasn't spoken with many people in Aurora about how the novel, or at least its first installment, is being received.
“The rumor mill seems to be saying that people are interested, and I hope that's true,” he said. “I'd like to think Aurora is getting a kick out of it.”
Karen Hindenlang, a resident of Aurora and also a member of the Aurora Coalition, which has been critical of some of Rowland's actions in the village, said she subscribed to Harper's so that she could read the five installments as they were released.
Hindenlang apparently wasn't the only person in the area to subscribe, either. The customer service representative Hindenlang spoke with at Harper's told her that the magazine had been receiving a fair amount of calls from the Aurora-area zip code and inquired about the sudden influx of interest for Harper's Magazine in central New York.
While there are still several installments left to be released, Hindenlang said she was eager to see how Lennon develops a sense of place in the story for Aurora.
“It's Aurora, for sure,” she said, though she is anticipating more since she has read previous works by Lennon and said he is particularly good about bringing out location.
Aurora resident Anna Baxter had also purchased a copy of July's Harper's but hadn't yet had the time to read the story. Baxter said she's most interested in finding out how closely the novel resembles reality - whether it's a “fiction” story with a lot of fact or a fiction story that's a total departure from actual events.
“I'm interested in seeing where it falls between those two ends of the spectrum,” she said. “I know it's very loosely based on what's happening here.”
While Kelly Carlisle, who grew up in Aurora, and Laurie Pattington, of Genoa, hadn't heard about the novel, both recognized the “Happyland” title from a float in this year's Aurorafest parade. People riding on the “Happyland” float had their mouths taped shut.
“Happyland!” Pattington said, when she saw the magazine. “I'm really excited about this. I can't wait to read it.”
As someone who grew up in the village, Carlisle believes it has changed quite a bit aesthetically over the last few years. While there are a handful of people who are very vocal about Rowland's efforts in the village, others are less so. But Carlisle believes most people “have strong opinions about it” one way or the other.
“I sort of follow (the events), but I don't know too much,” she said. “I did see the Aurorafest float. I haven't heard about the story yet.”
One person who wasn't planning on reading the novel was Aurora resident James Taylor, who last year wrote a letter to the editor saying the events in Aurora over the past few years would make good fodder for a novelist.
Taylor, a historian by practice, said while he had heard about the story and its saga with the Norton publishing company, he never developed an interest in reading it upon release.
“It probably would make me angry,” Taylor said. “I'm not sure if I like mixing truth and fiction. It just doesn't sound like my cup of tea.”
Taylor, who said he would just like Aurora to continue to “be a friendly village,” believes the village has received an undue amount of attention in the news for its ongoing factual story - and the fiction version, he's just not interested in.
Hindenlang, however, believes it is interesting that Lennon would be inspired by events in a village as small as Aurora. Often, she said, people believe their unfolding sagas would make for good story material, but less often do those stories actually materialize.
“People sometimes say 'Oh boy, this could be a book,'” Hindenlang said. “Well now here it is ... a story inspired by Aurora.”
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net
The similarities, Lennon said, largely end there.
The first and second parts of Lennon's novel, “Happyland,” were published in the July and August editions of Harper's Magazine. While he doesn't deny that he received inspiration from the events unfolding in Aurora for his novel, Lennon said the actual story is wholly fiction.
“A few plot elements are probably inspired by real events - for instance, the controversy over the Inn - but they play out in very different ways,” he said. “My character is really nothing like Mrs. Rowland, as far as I know. I truly did make her up from nothing.”
The first installment of Lennon's story introduces Happy as a strong but troubled woman. She happens to drive through Equinox, decides to purchase a house, then decides she will turn Equinox into “her Vatican, her Salt Lake, her Jerusalem,” where young fans of Happy Girls, her doll company, can come to visit.
Lennon taught for a year at Wells in 2000. It was during that time, he said, that he was persuaded to write a novel loosely based on the situation in Aurora.
The novel took about two years to write, he said. During that time, he received correspondence from people in Aurora who had heard he was working on a novel and wanted to give him additional insights into the village's situation - Lennon said he sent those e-mails back unopened.
“The fun, for me, is making stuff up,” he said.
One thing Lennon said very closely resembles reality is the sense of place. Equinox is located in upstate New York and is situated near another village just to the north called Unionville. The village is located on a lake and is also home to a small, women's college.
The character of Happy Masters, on the other hand, is wholly a creation of Lennon's imagination, he said. However, the publishing company that was first slated to release the book apparently believed there could be legal concerns stemming from “the overlap between Lennon's fictional doll manufacturer and the woman behind American Girl,” according to a Publisher's Weekly article last May. Rowland started the American Girl company, which is now owned by Mattel.
Lennon believes Norton, the publishing company, was “quite worried about Mrs. Rowland.”
“She didn't pressure them or anything,” he said. “I believe they were simply paranoid.”
The Norton company has not said either way whether legal concerns were the reason behind the sudden cancellation.
Following the issues with Norton, however, the opportunity at Harper's arose after a friend described the saga of the cancellation to the editor at Harper's. Now, a slightly shortened version of the novel is being run over five issues - the first which was released in this month's issue.
Lennon hasn't spoken with many people in Aurora about how the novel, or at least its first installment, is being received.
“The rumor mill seems to be saying that people are interested, and I hope that's true,” he said. “I'd like to think Aurora is getting a kick out of it.”
Karen Hindenlang, a resident of Aurora and also a member of the Aurora Coalition, which has been critical of some of Rowland's actions in the village, said she subscribed to Harper's so that she could read the five installments as they were released.
Hindenlang apparently wasn't the only person in the area to subscribe, either. The customer service representative Hindenlang spoke with at Harper's told her that the magazine had been receiving a fair amount of calls from the Aurora-area zip code and inquired about the sudden influx of interest for Harper's Magazine in central New York.
While there are still several installments left to be released, Hindenlang said she was eager to see how Lennon develops a sense of place in the story for Aurora.
“It's Aurora, for sure,” she said, though she is anticipating more since she has read previous works by Lennon and said he is particularly good about bringing out location.
Aurora resident Anna Baxter had also purchased a copy of July's Harper's but hadn't yet had the time to read the story. Baxter said she's most interested in finding out how closely the novel resembles reality - whether it's a “fiction” story with a lot of fact or a fiction story that's a total departure from actual events.
“I'm interested in seeing where it falls between those two ends of the spectrum,” she said. “I know it's very loosely based on what's happening here.”
While Kelly Carlisle, who grew up in Aurora, and Laurie Pattington, of Genoa, hadn't heard about the novel, both recognized the “Happyland” title from a float in this year's Aurorafest parade. People riding on the “Happyland” float had their mouths taped shut.
“Happyland!” Pattington said, when she saw the magazine. “I'm really excited about this. I can't wait to read it.”
As someone who grew up in the village, Carlisle believes it has changed quite a bit aesthetically over the last few years. While there are a handful of people who are very vocal about Rowland's efforts in the village, others are less so. But Carlisle believes most people “have strong opinions about it” one way or the other.
“I sort of follow (the events), but I don't know too much,” she said. “I did see the Aurorafest float. I haven't heard about the story yet.”
One person who wasn't planning on reading the novel was Aurora resident James Taylor, who last year wrote a letter to the editor saying the events in Aurora over the past few years would make good fodder for a novelist.
Taylor, a historian by practice, said while he had heard about the story and its saga with the Norton publishing company, he never developed an interest in reading it upon release.
“It probably would make me angry,” Taylor said. “I'm not sure if I like mixing truth and fiction. It just doesn't sound like my cup of tea.”
Taylor, who said he would just like Aurora to continue to “be a friendly village,” believes the village has received an undue amount of attention in the news for its ongoing factual story - and the fiction version, he's just not interested in.
Hindenlang, however, believes it is interesting that Lennon would be inspired by events in a village as small as Aurora. Often, she said, people believe their unfolding sagas would make for good story material, but less often do those stories actually materialize.
“People sometimes say 'Oh boy, this could be a book,'” Hindenlang said. “Well now here it is ... a story inspired by Aurora.”
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net
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