Liza Klaussmann may be a descendant of Herman Melville, but it is her grandmother who inspired her first novel, Tigers in Red Weather.

She was fascinated by women of the 1940s and 1950s and the societal restrictions they lived under . Her novel follows very individualistic sisters as they negotiate this time period and a murder that takes place in an idyllic Martha’s Vineyard holiday community.

Klaussmann writes from the point of view of five different characters, with each showing their point of view for part of the narrative. It’s a fractured portrait of truth within one family and of how difficult women shape their children.

Klaussmann, 36, is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Melville, writer of Moby Dick. She spoke to CBC’s Ilana Banks about the book and how Melville’s influence made her family into book-lovers.