A CONVERSATION WITH REBECCA KAUFFMAN

The novel is structured with a mystery and a death at its heart, yet there’s also humor and irony throughout. Can you tell us a little about how you created such a unique emotional contrast in the narrative and in the characters? Are there any favorite moments that you particularly enjoyed writing?

The most intense emotions—ecstasy or grief, for example—often seem to carry contrary impulses for me. Joy is quickly cut short by fear of its inevitable end, or the absence of its source, and grief is mediated by laughter and moments of inexplicable euphoria. I have a hard time looking death directly in the eye. I imagine most people do, but the specter of loss is such a profound part of existence that it plays a natural and perhaps even essential role in most stories. Death being something that we are rarely prepared for, and that never happens in a vacuum, it seemed important to fill the pages leading up to the death in this novel with moments that capture the humor and irony of life.

The alligator scene was my favorite to write. It never ceases to amaze me how some passages can take ages and be painstaking to complete, and other scenes seem to erupt fully formed in a single sitting, as was the case with the gator scene. I was laughing maniacally the entire time as I wrote it—though I wouldn’t expect most readers to find it very funny. It was one of those rare and blissful writing moments that feel like riding a wave. You don’t understand the mechanics; you just try to keep up and enjoy yourself.

How and why did you choose to set this story in the 1990s instead of the present?

Technology changes so much and so fast nowadays that I struggle to feel rooted enough in the present to capture it on the page. I’m especially clueless about how today looks and feels to younger generations. In the 1990s I was in grade school through early high school, so it was easier for me to imagine the lives of the children in the book in roughly that timeframe. I don’t know what it would be like to have a Facebook account at age thirteen, but I do know what it was like to operate a VCR. Once I started writing the story in that time period, various logistics became important to the plot. For example, characters don’t have cell phones but are able to dial *69 (for Caller ID), so the nineties ended up feeling both right and necessary.

Your descriptions of Fripp Island are stunning! There are the fancy golf courses and swimming pools, but the natural beauty of the island also comes through and is integral to the book—the crabs and gators, the beach, the ocean, the swamp. Can you tell us about your own experience with Fripp Island and what inspired you to set the novel there?

Thank you! My mother-in-law has family roots in South Carolina and an aunt who had a home on Fripp Island. That house is no longer in the family, but the island has remained a beloved destination, and we spent a week there several years ago. I was absolutely enchanted! Also, I learned right away that when crossing the bridge to enter the island, you have to either be a homeowner or provide some sort of proof that you’re an authorized guest, which instantly gave me a sense of intrigue and isolation and story. The island is extraordinarily beautiful; the Vietnam War scenes from Forrest Gump were filmed there, as was The Jungle Book from the 1990s.