For decades, author Ann Goethals nurtured other people’s stories as a high school English teacher, a union leader, and a mentor. Now in retirement she’s finally able to tell her own stories. Her debut novel, ‘The Doublewide”, was released in late September this year and introduced readers to a tender, northern Michigan rooted story that has been quietly resonating with audiences since its release.
Goethals, who divides her time between northern Michigan and Chicago, retired from teaching just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. During her 34 years in high school English classrooms, she developed writing centers, shaped teacher training programs, and served in union leadership. Once she stepped away from the world of academia she found herself with the unexpected gift of time. She filled her time at first with essays and short fiction published in online journals and Substack before turning her attention to a story that had been simmering in her mind for years.
The story became “The Doublewide”, the tale of Candy Schein, a soft spoken 28-yearold who works double and triple shifts in a retirement home while saving every possible dollar for one, modest dream — a home of her own. Candy’s life changes when she discovers a mystic blue doublewide that captures her imagination as completely as it challenges her to step out of her quiet routines. As Candy edges toward independence and connection, the people around her help shape a journey that is profoundly human.
“I would say the main themes are building family, creating home, and caregiving,” Goethals said.
When speaking about her protagonist, Goethals said, “Candy has been orphaned by her mom and raised by a cranky old grandfather. As an introvert the superficial plot is that she wants her own home. The real plot is that she has to join the human race to do that.” Candy’s work as a caregiver is central to the story, and Goethals’ own experiences inspired her deep empathy for the caregiving profession.
“(Caregivers) took care of my mom for a long time, and weren’t paid enough and weren’t given enough respect,” she explained.
Goethals describes her novel as a “little book”, not for its substance, but for the scale of the story. The story unfolds in a remote northern Michigan town and centers on people who are often overlooked - caregivers, cashiers, contractors, and workers whose lives rarely take center stage in fiction.
“Everybody who reads my book loves my book…but getting it out there in this insane algorithm driven, TikTok universe, it’s very, very difficult,” she said. Despite that, her recent events have been well attended, and readers respond strongly to the caregiving aspect of the story.
Local readers will have the chance to meet Goethals, hear her speak, and ask questions during her upcoming appearances at libraries and book stores around Leelanau.
“Really all I want to do is sit around in a room of humans, and talk about writing and talk about my book and talk about caregiving,” she said. “You put a book out there and you don’t know which part of it is going to land, but caregiving has really struck a nerve with people.”
Goethals emphasized her commitment to depicting working class characters authentically.
“I write about her going to work. She cleans people and feeds people and wheels people around and listens to their rants, and I think that really hit home with my readers,” said the author. The novel is dedicated to caregivers, a group she describes as “chronically underpaid and invisible.” She continued saying, “We’re so obsessed with the person we love who needs the caregiver that we don’t see all the actors that help this person through the day. They just sort of glide past our vision, and we don’t pay attention to them.”
For readers looking for a seasonal story, Goethals noted that in the process of Candy finding her home, she finally gets to celebrate the holidays in a space of her own. “It’s definitely a book about holidays,” Goethals said.
“The Doublewide” is available in hardcover and paperback, both online and through local booksellers.
Goethals will also having upcoming visits scheduled in the county. The first, at 2 p.m., Dec. 4, at the Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library.
She will also be at The Folded Leaf in Cedar at 5 p.m., Dec. 5.
