New York Times best-selling author J. Courtney Sullivan sat down with the Boston Book Bums to talk about her newest book, Maine, what she is reading, her next project and what inspires her. Tomorrow we review Maine, the second novel from Sullivan. Her first, Commencement.
Clearly, your Irish American family is an inspiration to your writing. What else inspires you?
I find inspiration everywhere. I think most writers do. Whenever I take a trip, I plot out an entire novel in my head, set in that location. When I’m introduced to any new element of life, I want to explore it in fiction. I adopted a dog a few months ago, and now I’m immersed in the culture of the Brooklyn dog run. There are the quirky people, the people who refuse to share a ball, the people who look just like their dogs…every morning I get a new idea for a character. (Though most of them will never see the light of day. And that may be a good thing.)
To be a writer, I think you’ve got to be endlessly fascinated by human behavior. I always ask people a lot of questions. And I’m a huge eavesdropper. When we’re out to dinner and my boyfriend tells me to quit listening in on the people at the next table, I like to remind him that I’m doing research.
What is your process of taking a seed of an idea, such as a Maine beach house and turning it into a novel?
I usually begin with a kernel—a moment in time, or a single character, or a physical location. With Commencement, I envisioned a group of friends who had allowed their differences to simmer beneath the surface for a while, and suddenly found themselves in a big old fight. That scene, which comes halfway through the book, was the first one I wrote. The rest of the story just sort of formed around it.
With Maine, I was inspired by a friend’s family compound on the beach in Kittery Point. The house came first—the idea that several generations would pass through it, and come together there year after year. Next, I filled the house. I sketched out each of the characters, but a lot of things changed once I started writing. Alice was originally named Emily, and she was a real sweetheart, a classic grandma. After a few months, her name and personality changed completely.
In early drafts, there were more voices: Ann Marie’s daughter, Kathleen’s sister Clare. But these four women rose to the top. Alice and Maggie are the generational bookends. Kathleen represents the one who went away—the complex blend of guilt and freedom that comes from throwing off one’s familial responsibilities. Ann Marie is essential because, as an in-law, she represents a sort of outsider, even though she is Alice’s main caretaker.
In Maine, you write of four very complex women of multiple generations, Alice, Ann Marie, Kathleen and Maggie. If you had to pick one to be your only confidant, who would it be? Who would most like to spend a night out of the town with? And which one of these incredible women, do you most identify with?
I would confide in Maggie. She is the peacekeeper of the family and, to my mind, she has the most kindness and common sense. (Of course, she accidentally-on-purpose got pregnant with her lousy boyfriend’s child, so the fact that she has the most common sense doesn’t really speak well of the rest of the family, does it?)
I’d probably spend a night on the town with Alice. This would no doubt end in a hideous hangover and/or a screaming fight.
I can’t say I identify with any of them, really. But I understand each of them, which may be even better.
You now have three books published, 2 of which are novels. What is your next project? Should we be looking out for a third novel?
I’m in the early stages of a new novel. It’s a portrait of four very different marriages that span the course of the twentieth century, and have something surprising in common.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading So Much Pretty, a debut novel by Cara Hoffman. It’s an incredible, important book, about the systemic violence against women in our culture. I think everyone should read it. I heard Hoffman give a reading in Brooklyn a while back, and she spoke about the fact that every time a woman is murdered in America, we focus on what she wore, or drank, or how late she stayed out, as a way to other her. When what we should be doing is connecting the dots and acknowledging that misogyny has deep roots in this country.
I’m also re-reading The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick. Hardwick is one of those writers who makes you savor every sentence. She had such a sense of wit and place. I think reading her can’t help but make you a better writer.
Tags: interview with J. Courtney Sulivan about her new book Maine., J. Courtney Sullivan, J. Courtney Sullivan interview, Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
J. Courtney Sullivan’s second novel, Maine, is a magnified slice of family dysfunction set on the beautiful shores of Maine’s coast. If you are looking for a book that screams SUMMER but is also worth the extra weight in your beach bag, Maine might be the perfect fit.
