STIFF HEARTS
GENRE
ROMANCE DRAMA
Core Theme
GILLIAN IS A BRAVE YOUNG GIRL FROM MISSOURI TRYING TO FREE HERSELF FROM THE VERY COLD HANNAH, HER MOTHER. AFTER HER FATHER’S DEATH, SHE DECIDES TO FACE THE UNKNOWN AND MOVES TO NEW YORK BY HERSELF, WHERE SHE MAKES FRIENDS, FALLS IN LOVE, ENDURES PAIN AND LOSS, AND MANAGES TO BUILD HER OWN DESTINY, BREAKING GENERATIONAL PATTERNS.
TIME PERIOD
1940s & '50s
COMPARABLE TITLES
MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL
CHARACTER LIST
• GILLIAN IS A STRONG GIRL WHO HAD TO ENDURE GUILT AND SHAME IN ORDER TO FREE HERSELF FROM THE GRIPS OF HER NARCISSISTIC MOM AND FIND INDEPENDENCE, WHICH IS OUTSTANDING CONSIDERING THE VIOLENCE AND NEGLECT SHE ENDURED AS A CHILD.
• HANNAH, MOM
• DOLORES, BEST FRIEND IN NY
• JANIS, LOVE INTEREST
• HARRY, BOSS IN NY
Logline
A Missouri transplant opens to other 1949 Greenwich Village incomers in spite of the risks: becoming collateral damage of her lover's anti-Communist mission, destroying herself before she can stand fully in her power, and perishing in the trap her mother sets for her back in the Ozarks.
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal,Female Leaning,Other
Setting
St. Louis, Greenwich Village, Ozark Mountains
Based on a True Story
Yes
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: self-published
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company Inc.
Year Published: 2021
Starting Description
In 1949 Missouri a repressed young woman has struggled life-long to earn her mother’s love. Instead, she's her mother's scapegoat. The repressed twenty-year-old believes if she moves to New York City, she’ll find love and never have to face Hannah again.
Ending Description
After months in the Ozarks, Gillian emerges triumphant and whole from the mental breakdown she suffered in New York because of her Latvian lover's murder. She returns to Harry’s Bar, where all her friends await her. A crowd outside joins the group, and their wacky celebration ends the book.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
978-1637641538
Mature Audience Themes
Information not completed
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age,Happy Ending,Meaningful Message,Philosophical Questions,Twist,Other
Plot - Premise
Overcoming Monster/Villain,Internal Journey/Rebirth,Quest,Voyage and Return,Other
Main Character Details
Name: GILLIAN RYSERT
Age: Twenty
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Aspiring,Complex,Engaging,Insecure,Naive,Romantic,Secretive
Additional Character Details
Name: JĀNIS DIEVIŅŠ
Age: Thirty
Gender: Male
Role: Emotional
Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Badass,Charming,Complex,Confident,Decisive,Empathetic,Heartthrob,Heroic,Educated,Honorable,Leader,Masculine,Sexy,Patriotic,Skillful,Visionary,Secretive,Sophisticated,Strong Moral Code,Unapologetic
Additional Character Details
Name: DOLORES VALENCIA
Age: Twenty-five
Gender: Female
Role: sidekick
Key Traits: Complex,Confident,Empathetic,Educated,Honorable,Selfless,Outspoken,Funny,Sophisticated,Unapologetic
Additional Character Details
Name: HANNAH RYSERT
Age: Forty
Gender: Female
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Aggressive,Villainous,Narcisstic,Blunt,Power Hungry,Outspoken,Sarcastic,Seductive,Manipulative,Unapologetic
Development Pitch
It’s Greenwich Village in 1949. Twenty-year-old bar maid Gillian Rysert believes she’s escaped her hillbilly mother’s legacy: some extreme physical code or language of survival transmitted by the blow of a fist on someone’s jaw or the boom of a gun firing far away in the woods. So far, Gillian’s reserve has shielded her—from anyone who is not her late father. But now Gillian’s surrounded by other Village incomers suffering the aftermath of two World Wars, and they embolden her stiff heart to open. Among them: a Latvian freedom fighter, a Latina sophisticate, and a Polish Jew. Authentic relationship with these characters packs some risks though: Gillian could become collateral damage to her lover’s anti-Communist battles, destroy herself before she can stand fully in her power, and perish in the trap her mother sets for her back in Missouri.
Genre
ROMANCE, DRAMA
Brief
Gillian is a brave young girl from Missouri trying to free herself from an abusive relationship with her mother. After her father’s death, she decides to face the unknown and moves to New York by herself, where she makes friends, falls in love and manages to build her own destiny, breaking generational patterns.
Overall Rating
EXCELLENT
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: EXCELLENT
Characterization: EXCELLENT
Commerciality: GOOD
Franchise Potential: GOOD
Pace: EXCELLENT
Premise: EXCELLENT
Structure: EXCELLENT
Theme: EXCELLENT
Accuracy of Book Profile
Logline could be improved, as it doesn’t accurately portray the core of the narrative.
Draw of Story
Gillian’s boldness and will power to set herself free from her mother’s grip is magnetizing from the beginning; especially considering the conservative times in which she decided to go to New York by herself, without any friends in the city and not much money to get by.
Possible Drawbacks
Nothing made me want to put the book down, on the contrary, the book is a good quality page turner.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY RELIES A LITTLE BIT ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
I would watch this movie because more than a narrative about a bold girl facing the world by herself, it brings along a theme that isn’t explored in depth by our culture as it is considered a taboo – estranged relationships between mothers and daughters and the existence of mothers who don’t love their children.
Fanbase Potential
It could have a large fanbase mainly due to this independent and charismatic female lead character and the diversity of characters from the moment Gillian moves to New York city.
Awards Potential
It could have awards potential not only because of the richness, diversity and originality of the characters and relationship between them but also because period drama makes room for great acting and art direction.
Envisioned Budget
MEDIUM BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL
What’s New About the Story
The story is original because it explores the theme of narcissistic relationships between mothers and daughters, and author is able to do that in a compassionate manner; as she acknowledges the context in which Gillian’s mom was brought up. This also takes the narrative to a wider angle than the personal one, turning it into a story that is also social and historical.
Lead Characters
Gillian is a strong girl who managed to break generational patterns, which is outstanding considering the violence and neglect she endured as a child.
Uniqueness of Story
It is a rare gem.
Possible Formats
Film: Studio, Indie, Streaming TV Series: Network, Cable, Limited Run / Mini-Series, Streaming
Analyst Recommendation
RECOMMEND
Justification
I recommend it because the narrative is well written, characters are well-developed and even though the theme of strong young female protagonist may be trendy, it also deals with a deep matter which is relationships between mothers and daughters that are far from the idealized in most fiction.
Brief
This is the very compelling and surprising story of Gillian, a girl beginning her life in NY and maturing enough to understand people have bad and good sides to them, but still has to come to terms with the fact that her mom is narcissistic and facing the needs to set herself free from her, as painful as it may seem, in order to find happiness.
What We Liked
Gillian’s will power to distance herself from her mother’s grip is magnetizing from the beginning; especially considering the conservative times in which she decided to go to New York by herself, without any friends in the city, a low self-esteem and not much money to get by.
Film: This would make for a great movie because more than a narrative about a bold girl facing the world by herself, it brings along a theme that isn’t explored in depth by our culture as it is considered a taboo – estranged relationships between mothers and daughters and the existence of mothers who don’t love their children.
TV: The story is original because it explores the theme of narcissistic relationships between mothers and daughters, and author is able to do that in a compassionate manner; as she acknowledges the context in which Gillian’s mom was brought up and also a tragedy she endured when losing her sister. This also takes the narrative to a wider angle than the personal one, turning it into a story that is also social and historical.
Key points: Strong female protagonist; growth character arc; mother-daughter relationship; girl making it on the big city; great lines.
Synopsis
After her father’s death, Gillian decides to leave her cold-hearted mom and city behind and head to Manhattan. But even though she is away, memories from her mom and childhood still follow her, as well as her beloved late father and sister. Arriving in New York, Gillian meets Dolores. She gets a job as a barmaid in Harry’s bar, and it’s in that bar where she meets Janis. Gillian and Janis have a first date in Conney Island. She rents her first apartment in Greenwich Village and seems to be managing to survive well in the big city. Janis and Gillian fall in love, but he seems to have an unstable character.
Dolores feels jealous and protective of Gillian. Janis and Gillian disagree and when they walk apart from each other, and she is beaten by a group of men. Janis is killed by Milanov, but Gillian only finds out in the hospital. Dolores confesses to be in love with Gillian. Hannah goes see Gillian in the hospital and takes her back to her hometown.
Gillian struggles with mental health and Hannah has been hiding the letters she got from her NY friends. Gillian then gets the letters Dolores’ had been writing her and decides to go back to New York, where she understands even though there we many difficulties, it’s where she considers home.