Julie refers to her family’s inability to discuss Isabel as “the elephant in the room.” Do you have experience with “the elephant in the room” in your family or circle of friends? How does that impact your relationships?
Were you more like the adventurous Julie as a child or the fearful Lucy? How did that affect you growing up? How and why did those qualities change in you—if they did?
In part,
Why do you think Shannon turned to Lucy with her problems instead of to Julie? Is there anything Julie could have done differently to be her daughter’s confidante? Does this situation resonate for you as you think about your own teenage years or your relationships with your own children?
What parallels did you see between the generations: Maria and her parents, Julie, Lucy and Isabel and their parents, Shannon and Julie?
Julie is caught between the teachings of her religion and her own nature. How does this impact her and the choices she makes? Can you relate to her conflict?
Why do you think Ross wanted to reconnect with Maria?
What do you think motivated Julie to maintain a friendship with Wanda and George in spite of her parents’ objections?
Which character garnered the most sympathy from you and why?
How did your feelings about Julie, Lucy and Maria change throughout the story?
Q&A ON
What inspired you to write this story?
This story actually began with the setting. Until I was eighteen, my family owned a small bungalow on a canal in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. I’ve always felt nostalgic about my longago summer home. Since I knew I would never own it again, I decided the only way to enjoy it would be to write about it.
As always, I wanted to explore the relationships between people, particularly Maria and her two daughters, Julie and Lucy. The murder of the third daughter, Isabel, flowed from my thoughts about the family. The setting, with its early sixties innocence, seemed perfect for a mystery. I had so many real details in my memory from living there—floating on tubes down the canal to the bay, crabbing in our dock, getting caught in the fog from the mosquito truck, and one heartrending disappearance of a child—that the book was both easy and fun to write.
You often write about secrets in your novels. What intrigues you about the dynamics of a relationship in which something is hidden?
Before writing full-time, I was a psychotherapist who frequently worked with families. I became aware of the damage a family’s secrets could do its members. Children and young adults intuitively sense when there’s something “amiss” in their family, and they often act out in response to that discomfiting intuition. In my fiction, I like to explore the ramifications of keeping secrets, both before and after they’re revealed.
I wanted to look at how Isabel’s murder coloured each of their lives as the years passed. It was only as I began writing the story that I saw the link between the three mother-daughter dyads: Maria and her mother, Maria and her daughters, and Julie and Shannon. Each mother tried to protect her daughter from the inevitability of growing up, with all the difficult choices and learning experiences that entails. And each of them failed.
You’ve written many novels. Is there one book in your history as a writer that stands out as a favourite?
Actually, this one. I felt deeply connected to the setting for reasons I’ve already mentioned, but writing in the first person also connected me to the characters in a way I hadn’t previously experienced. I missed the characters once I typed “The End,” so I think that’s a good sign!
WHY I WRITE…
I always wanted to be a writer and wrote many small, terrible books as a pre-teen. But I also had a strong desire to be a social worker, having read a book as a teenager about the different ways social workers could help people. By the time I was ready for college, becoming a successful writer seemed like a pipe dream, so I received both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. Then a funny thing happened. I was at a doctor’s appointment, and the receptionist told me the doctor was running very late. There were no magazines in the office, but I had a pen and a pad…and I had an idea that had been rolling around in my head for more than a decade. I began writing and couldn’t stop. At first, I thought of my writing as a hobby, but after about four years I had a completed novel. A year later, I had my first contract. I continued working as both a social worker and a writer for several more years until I decided to write full time. I love writing. It’s hard to imagine a better career, and I have plenty more stories to tell.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Once a medical social worker, Diane Chamberlain is the award-winning author of twelve novels that explore the complexities of human relationships—between men and women, brothers and sisters, parents and children. Diane lives in northern Virginia.
Q&A ON WRITING
What do you love the most about being a writer?
It’s so rewarding to be able to touch thousands of people with my stories. I love hearing that a reader lost a night of sleep because she couldn’t put down one of my books! That’s the best compliment I can receive.
Where do you go for inspiration?
When I begin to think about writing a new book, I see story possibilities everywhere. My mind and imagination are suddenly open to all the universe has to offer. I devour newspapers and magazines, watch movies, go to art museums, talk to people and even listen in on conversations in restaurants (not intentionally—I just can’t help myself when I’m in story-gathering mode!). The story that ultimately arises from all of this is a composite of so many different ideas that I can rarely recall the initial inspiration.
What one piece of advice would you give to a writer wanting to start a career?
First, study the craft of writing. I have read many manuscripts in which the idea is brilliant, but the writing is so poor that I know it stands no chance of ever being published, which is heartbreaking. Read as much as you can so that you understand how stories are told. What draws you in? What keeps you interested? Take a class and share your writing with others to get feedback. Finally, get out and live your life so you have experiences to write about. Writers often tend to be introverts who like to closet themselves away,
