Maud Newton – Medium

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Maud Newton

My Accused Witch Ancestor Was Also an Enslaver

Sometimes an ancestor who was persecuted turns out to have persecuted someone else — in more devastating ways.

7 min readJul 20, 2023

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My Accused Witch Ancestor Was Also an Enslaver

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Maud Newton

I Love Being a Stepmom, a Role I Was Afraid to Take On

The first time my stepdaughter, Autumn, called me her wicked stepmother, I experienced it as a relief and a kindness. She was well into…

6 min readMay 7, 2022

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A young girl waves alongside the edge of a lake, with ducks in the distance.

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Maud Newton

Native Planting in Southwestern Queens

First in an intended irregular series about my experiences and failures gardening with native plants in New York City.

7 min readJun 1, 2023

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A pink rose with a yellow center and dark green foliage

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Maud Newton

An Excerpt from Ancestor Trouble

My first book, Ancestor Trouble, was published by Random House on March 29. It’s received some very nice reviews. Adapted excerpts appear…

5 min readApr 10, 2022

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Black kitten in basket on a vest croched with granny squares, and a book

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Maud Newton

A Love Letter to Mugwort & Sleep

If you find yourself sleeping poorly, or your dreams have become less immersive or less richly symbolic in the pandemic, I recommend…

3 min readMar 16, 2022

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A Love Letter to Mugwort & Sleep

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Maud Newton

What Did the Forbidden Tree Want?

I grew up being taught the Bible as fact at church, at home, and at school. Though I am not a believer, I continue to mull the stories.

3 min readNov 21, 2021

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A naked man and woman with leaves over their genitals stand in front of trees. “Dürer was fascinated by the idea of the perfectly proportioned human form… Adam and Eve represent ideal specimens of their sex; Dürer has arranged them in nearly symmetrical poses, based on classical representations of Apollo and Venus. The animals refer symbolically to the Four Temperaments or Humours and their moral connotations: the melancholic elk, the optimistic rabbit, the irritable cat, and the calm ox.”

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Maud Newton

Grannyisms: Like We Say Back Home

A tree full of owls, a calf at a new gate, quiet as a mouse peeing on cotton — my Texan granny had so many expressions my mom and I love…

3 min readMay 8, 2021

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Grannyisms: Like We Say Back Home

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Maud Newton

When Life Gives You “Great Material”

"Why aren’t you living in a trailer park?” a writer asked me once.

3 min readApr 9, 2021

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When Life Gives You “Great Material”

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Maud Newton

Turning People Into Demons

Like QAnon believers, my preacher mom projected Satan onto those she didn’t like

4 min readFeb 23, 2021

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Turning People Into Demons

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Maud Newton

Don’t Write the Tedious Thing

I realized my book could focus on what I cared about most

2 min readFeb 12, 2021

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A dining room table. In the foreground, two composition notebooks and several typewritten pages with notes scribbled across them, alongside a nearly empty glass of water and two mugs filled with hot beverages. Further back on the table, a cat. Beyond that, a trunk with some books on it. In the corner, a rocking chair.

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Maud Newton

Maud Newton

Author of ANCESTOR TROUBLE, a best book of 2022 per New Yorker, NPR, WaPo... Bylines in NYT Mag, Guardian... Newsletter sign-up in Linktree. Opinions mine. She.

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