Author Heather O'Neill for One Book, One Milton
This fall, author Heather O’Neill will be in Milton to discuss her latest novel The Capital of Dreams.
She’s the focus for this year’s One Book, One Milton: a community-wide program that engages attendees through the shared experience of reading and discussing the same book. They dive into its contents, themes and relevance.
Her novel follows the journey of a young teenage girl named Sofia Bottom, who is tasked with delivering her mother’s manifesto to a neighbouring country in the midst of an enemy takeover. Along the way, Sofia encounters a number of characters that make her question if the local fairy tales she grew up reading were actually real or if the ongoing war was taking its toll.
Past authors have included Waubgeshig Rice, Sarah Polley, Mark Critch, Kelley Armstrong, Jagmeet Singh, Samra Habib, Margaret Atwood, Chris Hadfield, Yann Martel, Neil Pasricha and Don Gillmor.
Ahead of the event, we had the chance to speak with O’Neill about her novel.
INT – I actually just finished reading your book this morning! It was a fascinating read. I’ll try my best to save any questions about storylines and stuff for the event this fall, so to make it easy, tell me about the origins of the story. Where did the idea for the novel come from?
INT – You mentioned wanting to centre the novel around the time period of the mid-20th century. While reading it, I was having a hard time trying to distinguish when the book was taking place, because you incorporated aspects of real life (mentions of Europe and the United States, listening to the radio and record players) but you created a fictional nation called Elysia and they’re up against a nameless enemy (known simply as ‘The Enemy’). I was reading it and thinking, “Is this supposed to be World War 2? Is it the Bosnian War? There’s aspects of Russia invading Ukraine as well…” What was the reasoning behind having this nameless enemy up against this young fictional country?
INT – The Milton Public Library has been doing One Book, One Milton for quite a while now, and I’ve had the chance to speak with a number of the authors over the years. One thing I noticed last year with Waubgeshig Rice is that his confidence in his writing grew between his first book and his second, and he acknowledged that just getting the reps makes a world of difference. Have you found it to be the same for yourself over your career?
INT – Are you working on a new project? Do you take breaks in between writing – or do you have something new on the go?
INT – So, One Book, One Milton this fall, what can people expect when they come see you?
‘An Evening with Heather O’Neill’ presented by the Milton Public Library as part of One Book, One Milton 2025 will take place on Wednesday, October 8th at the FirstOntario Arts Centre Milton, inside the Mattamy Theatre. It’ll start at 7:00 p.m.
A book signing will follow the discussion, allowing attendees to meet the author and have their copies of The Capital of Dreams signed.
Tickets are available online or in person at the FirstOntario Arts Centre Box Office. Prices are $20 for library members, $25 for the general public, $43 for a ticket and book package for library members, and $48 for a ticket and book package for the general public.
For more information, click here.
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