A Conversation with Lorna Landvik
As Merit asked Flannery, where do you get your inspiration?
Sometimes, like Flannery, I find inspiration everywhere—from a
billboard, a snatch of music, a scent. Other times, I have no idea
where it comes from: all of a sudden, a character appears
unbidden in my head, with the urgent desire that I write about her
or him.
How did a book club end up at the center of the novel?
After the publication of my first novel, I got invited to speak at a
book club and since then I’ve been to dozens and dozens. What
always impresses me is the fun and friendship of these groups,
some of which have been together for decades, and that’s why I
decided to write about one.
In your acknowledgments you mention your visits to other book
clubs and your own book club. How did these experiences
influence your writing?
Other than inspiring me to write about a book club, my visits
to book clubs have given me the opportunity to hear firsthand
what readers think about my books. Hearing “I laughed, I
cried” is a big impetus to me to make sure the next book I
write has characters that readers will relate to, that ultimately
can make them laugh and cry. As far as my own book club is
concerned, I have learned how subjective each reader’s viewpoint
is. A book that might move one of us may leave another cold,
and yet we all share the belief that good characters are
absolutely necessary to a good book and that again enforces in my
own writing the need to write believable and compelling
characters.
What is it like to be the guest author at a book club? What was
your best experience? And worst?
It’s a lot of fun. Most book clubs I go to have the right
formula down pat—good conversation, good food, and plenty
of wine. It’s fun to have my books discussed and hear about
themes and character motivations I may never have intended,
fun to hear about characters of mine who’ve reminded a reader
of a sister or best friend, etc. I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed
all my book club visits and not one stands out as the best
(although the bigger the food selection, the happier I am).
One club discussing Patty Jane’s House of Curl had a cake decorated
with characters from that book; I’ve been to several clubs where
the members will dress like characters from one of my books.
During one meeting, while discussing Your Oasis on Flame Lake,
a book club member got to her feet and, pointing a finger at
me, shouted, “You make infidelity look good!” That was a
little disconcerting, but the vivid argument that ensued
among the members wasn’t a bad experience, but an
interesting one.
Do your readers ever surprise you with their insights into your
work?
All the time. They enlighten me as to why a character acts the
way she does, what my books’ themes are, hidden meanings. . . .
I love it!
If you could invite any author, living or dead, to your book club,
who would it be?
Oh, boy, I get to pick one? Probably Shakespeare. I’d want to
know not only how he wrote so beautifully, but how he wrote so
much and was anybody helping him?
You describe Slip’s daughter Flannery as a “tattletale” and
“tabloid reporter.” Since she is the character who becomes a
published writer, is this part of the job description?
I think it was for me. As kids, my brothers got after me all the
time for being a tattletale, whereas I just thought I was telling the
whole story.
What is Flannery’s novel Winter Gardens about?
I don’t know, I haven’t read it.
The story of the social movements of the l960s and early l970s is
often told from the vantage point of the radicalized youth of the
period. Why did you decide to examine the impact of this upheaval
from the vantage point of Freesia Court, an upper-middle-class
neighborhood of young families?
Whatever our age or place in society is, we’re still affected by
the times we live in. While the women in the book aren’t living in
Haight Ashbury or getting arrested at the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago, they still feel deeply about what is going
on. Slip, of course, chooses to act on her convictions, giving weight
to my conviction that, ultimately, mothers are the most radical
faction of all.
When a young man mistakes the Angry Housewives for sisters,
Audrey is offended. She feels he just thinks “every woman over the
age of fifty looks alike.” Is this the only explanation for his gaffe?
I think he was responding to their familiarity and closeness with
one another and he assumed they were related because of it.
Audrey is described as someone who “refused to ask
permission for the privilege of being herself.” Do you think this
description applies to all the Angry Housewives by the end of
your novel?
I never thought of it, but yes, I’d say so. Getting older is so
culturally and cosmetically incorrect, but I think the older women
get, the more their true selves emerge.
You write that “Faith had the sharp eyes of someone who always
had to figure out where she fit in, and the quick impressions she
had of people were nearly always accurate.” How and when did
Faith’s sharp eyes fail her?
For a good part of her life, Faith couldn’t see the value of her
own true self.
Did you always know Audrey—not the obvious choice—would
be the Angry Housewife to break through Faith’s defenses?
Not until I got to that part. My characters are always surprising
me—which one chooses to do what, and how. I don’t plot out the
story and so I don’t know what’s going to happen until I get there.
Do you agree that Faith, Merit, and Kari kept their secrets,
among other reasons, to preserve an ideal of upper-middle-class
respectability, while Audrey’s wealth and Slip’s political convictions
allowed those two to avoid that particular trap?
I think respectability to Faith was all-important because she
hadn’t had any growing up. As for Merit and Kari, I don’t think the
need to appear a certain accepted way was their motivation for
keeping their secrets. Merit’s was outright fear, and Kari made an
agreement with her niece not to reveal their secret. More than
their wealth and political convictions, I think it was the strength of
Audrey’s and Slip’s personalities that gave them the confidence to
be themselves.
Kari waited until her brother and sister-in-law had died to tell
Julia the truth about her birth mother. Was this fair?
Probably not, but Kari’s first priority was protecting her
daughter and her daughter’s biological mother.
We don’t learn how the rest of Kari’s family reacted to this news.
What happened?
I honestly don’t know that they were ever told.
Slip hopes the nation will be ready for a woman president when
her daughter grows up. Do you think that time has come?
Yes! Not only do I think we’re ready for a woman president, I
think the world is ready for a majority of women leaders. What the
world definitely doesn’t need at this point in time is more
testosterone—what we need is a lot more estrogen!
Will Faith’s sister ever come around?
I would bet that Faith will persist until she does.
Did you research this novel?
In that I have visited many book clubs and heard their stories,
yes. I also looked back to see what books were being read in certain
years.
Which aspect of writing this novel gave you the biggest
headache?
I knew different characters wanted to tell their stories in
different ways (some speak in the first person, others in the
third); what helped corral all of this was when I figured out
each chapter heading—the book they had chosen for discussion
and why.
Which books would make your greatest-hits list?
A short list would include To Kill a Mockingbird, Handling Sin
(both of which are selections in the book), Huckleberry Finn, Great
Expectations, and maybe a book I have great affection for, the Dick
and Jane books, because they were the books that taught me how
to read.
What is your average workday like?
I like to work every day, but that doesn’t mean I do. During the
school year, I usually take a walk in the morning, come home,
make a latte, and read the papers, and then I try to settle down
and work. But I don’t stick to a regular schedule—if I have
something really important going on in the day (a lunch date,
a movie), I’ll work later in the afternoon or at night. My family’s
very accommodating and I’ve also learned to write among them,
amid distraction.
What do you do when the words won’t come?
I get up, find the chocolate, and if that doesn’t help, I might
read and see if someone else’s ability to tell a story can help fire
up mine.
Are you working on a new project?
A: Yes. Once I finish a book another one’s usually right there, ready
to be written.
