The Melrose Messenger

A Conversation with Local Author Jane Roper

By Ellen Putnam

Political activism and art have always been essential aspects of Melrose author Jane Roper’s life - and never have they been more important to her than right now.

Roper, whose most recent novel The Society of Shame was nominated last year for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, is working on publishing a new novel, runs a popular Substack and co-runs the Mobilize Melrose political action group.

“As a kid, I wrote things constantly,” Roper reflected. “Stories, poems, all kinds of things. As I grew older, I got more interested in activism. I became politically and environmentally aware. In college, I was an anthropology major - I thought I wanted to be in international development.” Eventually, Roper ended up in her current career as a copywriter. “I loved the opportunity to be creative and write, and reconnect with what I loved so much as a child, but it wasn’t enough. So I started writing essays and dabbling in fiction, and that became my passion.”

Roper earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and since then she has worked in advertising while also working on her own writing. When The Society of Shame was published in 2023, Roper reflected, “it was exciting to have a novel published with a major press after so much time and so many failed attempts - I had a long and circuitous path to becoming an author.”

The Society of Shame uses humor to explore both political and personal themes. It follows Kathleen Held, the wife of an aspiring U.S. Senator, whose husband’s infidelity goes viral, along with an ill-timed period stain. Roper deftly juggles the painful awkwardness of perimenopause, the stigmas around women’s bodies and periods, Kathleen’s growth out of her own shyness into a more confident woman, and her preteen daughter’s own awkwardness as she enters puberty, all against the backdrop of a Senate campaign and constant Twitter discourse.

While there are some parallels between Kathleen’s character in The Society of Shame and Roper’s own life - including her life stage, and her aspirations as a writer - Roper noted that none of the characters are intended to resemble people she knows in real life.

“Many times with my characters,” Roper explained, “whether it’s the protagonist or a side character - I might start with a kernel of truth, facts that are based on what I know about myself or someone else. But during the writing process, the characters begin to take on a life of their own, and the more I write, the further they diverge from the original person or idea that inspired them. I find that I’m able to tap into the emotional core of the characters, but then what surrounds it is different.”

For example, she went on, “the fierce love that Kathleen feels for her daughter when she is bullied - as a mother, I can feel and have felt that, but the way she reacts to it is not how I would react. It’s about accessing what you can access and going from there. Actors do that in a lot of ways - they play an emotional scene by going to access something painful in their own life, but they still filter that through the character they’re playing - their own emotions are just the starting point.”

And while what Roper calls the “suburban comedy of manners” in The Society of Shame might remind some readers of Melrose, the fictional town of Greenchester is more closely inspired by the New York suburbs Roper grew up in.

The novel also includes a conflict around two swans with matching names - Sonny and Cher - who might remind Melrose readers of our own swans, Mel and Rose. “I swear that the swans were not inspired by Melrose,” Roper laughed. “I just find waterfowl very funny. The idea came to me, and the connection did not even occur to me until someone pointed out that the fictional swans sounded just like Mel and Rose. Maybe it was subconscious.”

“I used to write more serious fiction,” Roper reflected, “but I wasn’t as good at it. The older I've gotten, the more I’ve leaned into absurdity and humor, and I take things less seriously in general - definitely in my writing. It took a while to stop holding onto writing serious literary fiction, and to write what I’m good at and find true joy in writing.”

At the same time, Roper doesn’t just write humor for its own sake - her humor is always in the service of important themes and ideas. “I try to still make what I write emotionally resonant,” she said, even if it’s humorous.

Readers can find more of Roper’s irreverent and insightful writing on her Substack, which she publishes biweekly. “It’s an eclectic mix of personal essays, across a wide range of topics,” she explained, “and I love doing that as well.” (Roper’s husband, musician Alastair Moock, also publishes a Substack that discusses both art and politics, although Roper noted that they don’t usually coordinate their Substack pieces. “We usually just try not to publish on the same day,” she said.)

Roper recently finished another novel, which she is currently working on finding a publisher for. “I’m really excited about it,” she said. “It’s about a woman who owns an AirBnB, and is obsessed with it to an unhealthy degree. She gets a mysterious, scathing review from a guest, and she soon realizes that she’s being sabotaged. She needs to confront her past wrongs and demons in order to figure out what’s going on, and how to rebuild and fill some of the holes in her life.”

The new novel will take place in the Boston suburbs, Roper said. “It was fun to draw on some new things for that setting.”

Roper noted that there has been interest in adapting the new novel for television, too. “The Society of Shame was also optioned, and pitched as a TV concept, but it never got off the ground,” Roper said. “This new book lends itself even better to TV, since it’s wrapped up in a mystery. But even for the most successful authors with gazillions of books, many times projects never make it onto the screen - there are so many variables and factors. I don’t have high hopes for it, but it feels very glamorous to say!”

Roper is also one of the organizers of the Mobilize Melrose group. Originally founded in 2016, the group is barebones - no mailing list or meetings, just a Facebook page. “It’s literally just a way of getting ideas and information out,” Roper said. The majority of local protests and actions have been organized by the Indivisible Melrose, Wakefield & Beyond group, while Mobilize Melrose focuses mainly on helping get the word out about events and actions followers can take. “I call myself a ‘slacktivist,’” Roper joked. “It doesn’t take a lot - it’s so much easier than people think to take meaningful action.”

And while Roper doesn’t believe that a single protest or standout will make a tangible difference, “I think it’s so important for people to see the opposition,” she said. “If someone who’s not politically engaged sees a standout, they might say, ‘Oh, people are standing up for something. What does that sign mean? What are they referring to?’ So many people are completely tuned out and don’t follow politics. A lot of people don’t vote - they’re just living their lives and aren’t interested in current events. So all awareness is good.”

The events that Mobilize Melrose is involved with are also important, Roper went on, “for making you feel less alone. It’s really powerful. Part of it is group therapy for the folks who are involved.”

“Art is more important than ever in difficult times,” she reflected. “People need to be moved, to be entertained, made to laugh, think, and feel human. Art, writing, and music - we need that as humans. It’s medicine for us.”

One threat to art that Roper sees is artificial intelligence. “I’d like to hope that people don’t want to read something written by AI,” she said. “It’s so sterile and lonely. We don’t look at art because we’re trying to look at the thing itself - it’s about the intent, the heart, the emotion, the intellect behind it - it’s not just about the product.”

Roper looks forward to sharing her next novel with readers. “It’s meant to entertain, to make people think about things - about forgiveness, and how people can atone for past wrongs,” she said. “It’s very human stuff - it’s not writing about world events, and that’s fine, we need some escapism, but there’s a fine balance between escapism and not putting your head in the sand completely. You have to find right balance between paying attention and trying to make the world a better place, and giving ourselves some reprieve.”

One of the characters in Roper’s new book teaches chicken yoga. “Some authors do extensive research for historical fiction books,” she said, “and I research: is there such a thing as a chicken diaper? Absurd times call for absurd measures.”

You can pick up a copy of Jane Roper’s The Society of Shame at Molly’s Bookstore - and subscribe to her Substack here!

Posted March 2nd, 2026