Jennifer Haigh, author of RABBIT MOON
When things will never be the same
Jennifer Haigh’s first novel, Mrs. Kimble, won the PEN Hemingway Award for debut fiction. Mercy Street was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker and won the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. Her short stories have been published widely, in the Atlantic, Granta, The Best American Short Stories and many other places. Published in eighteen languages, her work has been recognized by the Guggenheim Foundation, the Michener Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Boston. Her latest is Rabbit Moon.
One thing Jennifer said on the show that I’m repeating to my students and anyone who will listen is that a novel should begin at the point where things for your protagonist will never be the same. I love that.
Here are a few questions I didn’t ask:
What has been the most surprising aspect for you since your book came out?
I’ve heard from a number of readers who have adopted daughters from China, or are themselves adoptees. I’m struck by how many identify with my character Grace, and their strong reactions – positive and negative -- to Grace’s adoptive parents, Claire and Aaron.
What have you read lately that you wholeheartedly recommend?
Sorrow and Bliss by the British writer Meg Mason. I couldn’t put it down.
How about an older book—five years or more?
Alice McDermott’s novel Charming Billy is one of my desert island books. I never lend it to anyone, because what if I need it?
Listen to my interview with Jennifer Haigh here.