Historical fiction author Samantha Woodruff on tapping external plot devices, rethinking everything she knew as a marketing specialist, and her rich new novel, THE TRADE OFF

Zibby chats with author Samantha Greene Woodruff about THE TRADE OFF, a captivating 1920s historical novel about an ambitious woman who fights for her place on Wall Street, inspired by the true story of a pioneering investment legend. Samantha delves into her protagonist, who, as a poor Jewish woman, faces societal barriers and has to support her brother as the “woman behind the man.” She touches on the siblings’ toxic relationship, the looming stock market crash, and the novel’s Jewish components. Finally, she discusses her essay contribution to Zibby’s latest anthology, ON BEING JEWISH NOW, and shares how the current climate has deepened her connection to her heritage.

As Samantha herself says below, writer friends really are the best part of the writing life. I got to know Samantha through a mutual friend of this kind, Susie Orman Schnall, whom I interviewed here a few months back. This community is just so generous, it never stops amazing me.

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?This was not an easy book to name! From the moment I had the idea to write about a woman trying to be an investor in the stock market in the lead up to the Great Crash, I loved the title “What Goes Up.” For me it was fun and inviting but also foreshadowed the catastrophe that was coming (you know, because of the adage: “what goes up always comes down.”) But no one else liked it.

Someone recently asked me for a one sentence, Hollywood-style pitch for The Trade Off and I said: “It’s The Great Gatsby meets The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Wall Street.” Not to compare myself for a single moment to Fitzgerald or Amy Sherman-Palladino, but my book is set in the roaring ‘20s and examines the “have and have nots” of the era.

Author I draw inspiration from:

Fiona Davis is masterful at well-written reads in historical settings, with characters you care about and a page-turning plot. I’ve loved all her books but especially The Magnolia Palace, there was just something about that 1960s model. Allison Pataki writes compelling, impeccably researched books about women in history you likely haven’t heard of before.

I learned so much about Wall Street, womanhood, and history in this fabulous story about a young Jewish woman deadset on working in finance in the 1920s.

I first met Samantha Greene Woodruff (Sam) a few years ago when she asked me to blurb her first novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife. We realized we lived close by each other and after becoming instant friends, we decided to start a writing group with another author buddy, Jackie Friedland. Sam’s second novel The Trade Off (out on October 8th!) began as a gem of an idea that she shared during one of our writing groups. What fun it was to watch her develop the story, and the finished copy is sparkling.