I don’t think it can ever be escaped totally. But the older I grow, the more I’ve realized that it always seems to be there, for myself and for others. Some people feel that they can escape it and, maybe, for a number of years, they do. Do you think anyone can ever really escape their past? This is all I’ve ever wanted to know: What is it like to be you? A lot of your fiction focuses on family histories. I’m so interested in ordinary people-the people who are walking past me on the street, whether in New York or Maine. Well, I’m glad if people find that I have “profound insights” into the human heart. But at the same time, your work has been categorized as “quiet.” What do you make of these descriptions? Read More: The 34 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2021 Your books are often described as offering profound insights or incisive commentary on the human condition. You always think the other person’s not behaving the way you want them to, but then you look at yourself and realize, well, maybe I’m not behaving the way they want me to, either. She said: “Look in the mirror every morning and think to yourself, ‘Well, you’re not such a great prize, either.’” That sounds a little harsh, but I take the point. My daughter told me that she heard this from a friend of hers, and I thought it was pretty amazing. What’s the best advice for a happy marriage? Marriage is not the finishing line that sometimes people think it is. But there’s this sense that there’s a perfect way to live, and there is not.

People, especially when they’re younger, get married thinking that their lives will be so much better. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have around marriage?

Everyone is filled with endless pools of unknowability. You go along for years thinking, “I know this person,” and then you find out something and are like, “Well, I didn’t know that.” You observe and listen more, and you realize they’re not quite who you thought. Is there anyone in your life who you’ve experienced that with? Someone you thought you knew, but it turned out that you didn’t know them at all?Įverybody! Well, honestly, not everybody, but a number of people. They knew each other very well-and yet they didn’t know each other as well as they thought they did. They were married for 20 years, and now they’ve been separated but have had contact with each other. It was so interesting for me to realize the complexities. What was exciting to you about exploring that? The relationship between Lucy and William, two people who used to be married and now are not, is not totally definable.

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