"I'd written my other two novels in first person. I love the interiority of it, how intimate
it feels, nevertheless, I started off my telling myself I would write Handful from a third
person perspective, which seemed a little more removed. I think the word I'm looking for
here is safer. I hadn't written more than two pages, however, when Handful began talking
in the first person. My need to inhabit her more fully kept breaking in. Finally, I just
gave up and let her talk. While writing this novel, I read an interview with author Alice
Walker, who, in speaking of her mother, said, "She was all over my heart, so why shouldn't
she be in literature?" I felt that way about Handful."
And from another interview:
"I think you have to love your characters, and I just loved her. she started talking
and talking and talking. I could not keep up with her. There was this unleashing of
a character's voice. I came of age in the '60s....I remember so much of that whole Civil
Rights time - it was the background I lived in. It made a mark on me. Their voices
stayed with me - the musicality, and some of their expressions."
The discussion of The Invention of Wings takes place Thursday, December 8th.
Come share your thoughts, enjoy a cup of coffee, a sweet treat and perhaps a
discussion to make you think.............