Blog Tour: The Patron Saint of Lost Girls by Maureen Aitken #interview #giveaway #fiction #shortstories #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

Literary Fiction / Short Story Collection

Date Published: 09-16-2025

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

In 1970s and '80s Detroit, the city wrestles with an unending economic downturn, increasing violence, and white exodus to the suburbs. Amid all of this is twentysomething Mary who is just trying to grapple with her identity in a world filled with uncertainty.

In this collection of linked stories, we follow Mary as she seeks to cope with and withstand hardship and confront her fears of exploitation, abuse, and death. Along the way, she delves into the complex yet nurturing relationships with her family and friends who teach her to love better, live fuller, and question power. The Patron Saint of Lost Girls presents an unflinching tale of life in the late twentieth-century postindustrial Midwest.

 

 

 Interview

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

The chaos that can sometimes happen in life can also be the time of your strongest creative power.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The characters don’t fit into cookie cutter roles. They can be full of anxiety, but also exceptionally strong. Maybe one requires another.   

 

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

 I have one published and two more written. It is the first time in my life that I love them all. That’s a beautiful feeling.

 

If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

 Billie Eilish would be Mary, because she has an edge. She can tell people off and it’s still charming.  

 

When did you begin writing?

When I was in the fourth grade I started writing little stories.

 

How long did it take to complete your first book?

Years, probably seven years. They were separate stories and eventually I realized they weren’t separate at all.

 

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

Yes, so many! Gabriel García Márquez, James Joyce, Mona Susan Power, Zadie Smith, and John Steinbeck.

 

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

 Revision is my favorite part of the writing process. I love getting deeper into the story and discovering the many layers.

 

Describe your latest book in 4 words.

Haunting, intense, dreamy, funny.

 

Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?

I’m working with a different structure for fiction, told in vignettes, which plays with space and considers our fractured time.

 

 

About the Author

Maureen Aitken’s short-story collection, The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, received a Kirkus star, the Nilsen Prize, and the Foreword Review INDIE Gold Prize for General Fiction. It will be reissued in September, 2025 by Wayne State University Press. Her stories have earned a Minnesota State Arts Board’s Artist Initiative Grant, a Loft Mentor Award, an award from Ireland’s Fish Short Story Prize, and two Pushcart Prize nominations. It was also nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. Her stories have been published in Prairie Schooner and New Letters, among others. This is her second story featured in The Missouri Review’s Blast section.

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