Brandeis Magazine

Why did you make Pirio so brave from a physical point of view?

“My sister used to be one of those hotdog trick skiers, and she goes by herself to the Alps to ski. My brother is a sailor who has sailed to Tahiti and back. He spent three years on the open ocean. A lot of women are physically very courageous, and men as well. I just wanted her to have part of that.”

Is there a novel that particularly inspired you?

“I love Edna O’Brien’s Country Girls Trilogy because it has the most beautiful language I’ve ever read. She brings the geography and the society and the characters’ voices together so seamlessly that they almost become one thing.”

Your favorite book as a child?

“I loved Harriet the Spy, even though she was kind of a noncharacter. She was just a person who spied in other people’s windows. Curiosity was her major attribute, which is probably why so many writers like her.”