Introduction
Mary Higgins Clark is an established American author known for her suspense novels. Her books are the bestselling in the American market and most of the European countries. Her writing career is traced to have started in her early years where she started working as a secretary and later as a copywriter. She left her job over marriage after working for about a year. After starting her family, she started writing short stories as a way she could add on to her family’s income. In 1964, her husband died, and she was left to be the breadwinner of the family (Horner, 2017). As an effort to increase her earnings, she started to write forty-minute scripts for a radio station. Her writing works were impressive, and she was trusted with long scripts by her bosses. She paid a lot of attention when working on her scripts to make sure they contained the desired content intended to communicate to the audience (Stewart, 2013). While on this job, her boss encouraged her to shift her writing career to get started on writing novels.
Debut novel was her first edition with a fiction setting, but it did not perform well in the market. She changed from fiction books and got started on suspense novels that were managed to capture attention big number of readers and became popular over time (Horner, 2017). By 2007, it is estimated that over 80 million copies of her publication had been sold in the American market. She was a role model for her children where her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, and daughter in law, Mary Jane Clark, took after her and become established writers. Mary Higgins Clark has influenced some people in various ways and thus an important figure regarding character development in the society.
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Character Development Analysis
The book titles used Mary Higgins Clark mostly comes from selected songs which create suspense to the audience. The suspense builds rapidly as one tries to follow the actions of sympathetic heroine who struggles a lot in her efforts to keep safe from a deranged killer. On top of the suspense that she creates, Clark is seen to respond to specific social topics within the context of the society she lives in (Verel, 2014). Some of these topics include greedy organizations used to acquire wealth at the expense of patients, dishonest practices of fertility specialists, weaknesses of the federal in ensuring the protection of the citizens and conspiracies of both financial and pharmaceutical firms.
Clark’s characters in her publication are a true representation of certain frightening situations that human beings undergo in their day-to-day lives. For example, she explains a newly wedded woman who later comes to learn about her husband’s secrets, which are terrifying in some ways. She also gives an account of a woman who finds out the contractor building her house is not the real thing she expected. It is frightening when she gives a story of a stepdaughter who ends up being buried alive. In all her writing works, she effectively manages to reveal the human experiences and responsibilities where both blackmail and silence are involved. Common human experiences such as fear of losing a job opportunity and intimidation are workplace is well used in some analogies. Her psychological and philosophical influence on the reader’s mind is influential and depicts her creative character, which is unique for a writing career. Her books impact positively on the reader who is introduced to frightening or sympathizing situations to help them develop strength and abilities to overcome difficulties they might be facing in their lives.
Role Model in Education
In her life, Mary Higgins Clark has an account of various instances where she participated to ensure that she attained education as a way of leading a better life to be in a position to provide to her family. She was concerned about the future of her children to avoid financial struggles that could strike them (Verel, 2014). It is for these reasons that she made sure that they had access to quality education. She was concerned about excelling in her education as a good way to encourage here children who could later take after here. In line with this, she joined Fordham University in 1971 and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. It is evident that she managed to build the character of her children who later attained heights in education for their well-being. The eldest children Warren and Marilyn as seasoned judges and Patty is known to have worked with Mercantile Exchange, an established firm in New York. David has a history of being a CEO of Talk Marketing Enterprise where he once served as a
Carol took after her mother, and she is known for her high profile suspense novels that she has written. In some instances, she ended up retyping her mother’s work when pursuing her college education. Her mother was a mentor, and she worked closely with her where she managed to rename some locations and characters that her mother had previously chosen (Chalupa, 2014). Carol was encouraged by her mother’s work, and this made it her help her mother to finish her second. It is during this time that the mother was struggling with her full time and Carol came to help her on the writing task. She was introduced to the processes involved in writing passages and telling tales. At this point, Carol started perfecting her writing skills to become later establish a strong foundation for her career as a suspense writer.
Source of Inspiration
Tracing the life of Mary Higgins Clark from her early time to the achievements she later makes in writing career serves as a source of encouragement in life. She has inspired quite a good number of writers because her books are the bestselling in the region (Chalupa, 2014). Despite the fact that most of her stories are full of suspense and bit of fiction, they are a source of inspiration where the reader gets a different understanding ways that can be employed in life to overcome challenges that a person faces ( Clark, 2015) . Mary Higgins Clark serves as an inspiration to the upcoming writers, since form the onset, she had her won downtimes especially when she wrote her first novel in 1969. This novel did not get the desired reception, and hence she would have been discouraged which she did not. The novel, which was inspired by the biography of George Washington, was based on political histories. At this time, Mary Higgins Clark was writing a patriotic series for the radio and with the reception the novel received, she had to switch her themes in the novels she wrote. This experience proved enough that she was capable of writing novels although the novel she wrote on historical fiction never received any attention; historical fiction was not her strong suit ( Horner, 1992) . She, therefore, resulted in writing thrillers, which according to her, they have made her a fortune and a name within the novel writing industry. The lesson that upcoming writers learn from Mary Higgins Clark’s history and journey towards commanding such an influential position in novel writing is seeking for one’s strong area, be resilient and be prepared for any reception when you are writing your first novels. With such an attitude, upcoming writing will be able to build on resilience and eventually they will emerge strong enhancing their relevance in the industry.
Philanthropic Works
Mary Higgins Clark has also been involved in several philanthropic works where she supports writers, aimed and motivating them to venture into the field. One of the recent philanthropic works that Mary Higgins Clark has participated in is the $2,000,000 donation to Fordham University in New York to support creative writing in the university. Mary Higgins Clark was focused on motivating young writers from the university to venture into the field as a profession that can transform their lives (Chalupa, 2014). With several challenges that these writers were faced with especially in the cost of research, she contributed the amount, which would be commemorated with a chair that would be named after her. Mary Higgins Clark had graduated from the university in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, which made her give back as alumni and a former trustee.
The Mary Higgins Clark Foundation is yet another of her philanthropic works which have highly influenced young writers by nurturing their talents. This foundation apart from nurturing the talents of young and upcoming writers has other roles, which directly and indirectly affects the urge to emulate Mary Higgins Clark for these young professionals in novel writing, and other creative writing works. This foundation was established in 1999 in New Jersey by Mary Higgins Clark with the core purpose of nurturing young talents and offering donations to religious organizations who are concerned with needy families faced by catastrophic disasters. Through this organization, Mary Higgins Clark have been able to impact on some families who have been facing various social and economic problems.
Character Development in Mary Higgins Clark’s Novels
Characters selections and the way they are developed within a book’s plot is quite essential for the relevance of the novel to its topic. Mary Higgins Clark is one of the writers who are quite talented in character development, with the ability to choose the right names for his characters, assigning them roles that align with the desired traits and eventually culminating the plot with the desired suspense for every event that unfolds within the text. Taking a novel like “Where Are the Children” it is very likely for the reader to rate this book with 5/5 score owing to the superb plot and characterization (Clark, 2015). With the beginning chapter acting as an introduction and preparation for the unfolding story, we find the plot and the characters thickening from the second chapter. It is easy for the reader to relate to the characters in the novel in any moment that the reader is reading the novel. First, these characters are very natural in today’s world, and the event people are faced with today, but in the time that this novel was written, the charters appeared quite bold (Clark, 2015). It is common nowadays to find female characters who are treated with contempt and denied deserving positions and opportunities in their early years in careers, but through resilience, they overturn these stereotyping and emerge one of the most important people in the society. This is evident from the novel whether the main female character starts out as naïve and one that was faced with all manner of ill-treatment, but as the plot matures, she gains her space and uses it to twist the ills she was subjected to in haunting her tormenter. This kind of a plot and character development featured to be quite bold in a time when male dominance was prevailing, but currently, people can adequately relate to the plot.
In her novel “I’ll Be Seeing You” we find that Mary Higgins Clark is focused on portraying the capacity of women to hold important positions within the society (Podnar, 1997). Mary Higgins Clark does this by featuring bold female characters who are holding respected positions within the society such as those of lawyers and reporters. These positions are concerned with the plight of the oppressed hence she also designs her female characters as people who are concerned with the injustices eminent in their societies. Her introduction or descriptions of these female characters are also appalling since she is keen to depict them as very bright and beautiful in the way they appear. She uses words like beautiful, chestnut hair, 5’5 inch tall and possession of rare blue-green eyes (Podnar, 1997). A character like Meagan in the novel is both a reporter and lawyer in professions. This development of the female characters in the novel depicts her urge and ability to portray that women are also cable of holding important positions in the society and eventually capable of delivering equally as their male counterparts. Just like in other novels written by Mary Higgins Clark, she is quite keen in character development where the reader feels that she or he is getting too much of their personal and professional information, hence she extensive in her elaboration of the strengths and weaknesses of her characters. This novel contains quite some characters, but their representation makes it possible for the reader to follow through, with the different points of views represented. It has been established in several other novels that it is impossible to follow through quite easily when so many characters are involved with different points of view, but does not get overwhelmed in this case one.
Another novel that is artistically written to display Mary Higgins Clark’s prowess in character development is the novel “You Belong To Me” (Clark, Jakes, Cook & Graham, 1998). This novel features a serial killer targeting lonely women traveling on cruise ships. The novel fits well with her bestselling classic mystery and suspense novels. In this account, we find Mary Higgins Clark featuring different characters with different perspectives about life and receptions to various situations (Alter, 2011). We find how different female characters can perceive the same male lover. The novel offers a development of characters based on the different people with life with in real life. The killer is seen trying to pursue the hearts of these lonely female characters, twisting their feelings and eventually having his way by breaking their hearts and killing them. The psychosocial aspect of the novel aids in depicting the points of views represented by these female characters as well as the serial killer (Clark, Jakes, Cook & Graham, 1998). The unique personalities represented by Mary Higgins Clark showcases her prowess in character choice and development.
Conclusion
Eventually, we find Mary Higgins Clark as one of the novelists who has commanded their space in the writing novel industry through the keen choice of characters, development of these characters in a manner that they effectively blend with the plot’s events and eventually ensure that she sticks to the themes of her works. With such as the effective way of character development, Mary Higgins Clark has been able to address several issues that affect the society as a whole, using suspense as the key tool in her works. Character development is a skill that most writers should possess to create relevant works, which Mary Higgins Clark have depicted an expert in over the years.
References
Alter, A. (2011). The Case of the Best-Selling Author . WSJ . Retrieved 28 November 2017, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704461304576216892997147466
Chalupa, A. (2014). The Wisdom of Mary Higgins Clark . Big Think . Retrieved 28 November 2017, from http://bigthink.com/purpose-inc/the-wisdom-of-mary-higgins-clark
Clark, M. (2015). Where are the children ? . London: Harrap's.
Clark, M., Jakes, J., Cook, R., & Graham, J. (1998). You belong to me, American dreams, toxin, Firebird . Pleasantville: The Reader's Digest Association.
HORNER, S. (1992). New Jersey Q & A: Mary Higgins Clark; From a Life in New Jersey, Best-Selling Mysteries . Nytimes.com . Retrieved 28 November 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/new-jersey-q-mary-higgins-clark-life-new-jersey-best-selling-mysteries.html?pagewanted=all
Podnar, D. (1997). A stranger is watching / I'll be seeing you, Mary Higgins Clark . Rocky River, Ohio: Center for Learning.
Stewart, J. (2013). Mary Higgins Clark . Biography.com . Retrieved 28 November 2017, from https://www.biography.com/people/mary-higgins-clark-278967
Verel, P. (2014). Mary Higgins Clark Shares Insights on Writing and Education . Fordham Newsroom . Retrieved 28 November 2017, from https://news.fordham.edu/arts-and-culture/mary-higgins-clark-shares-insights-on-writing-and-education/
