Camino Island

by John Grisham

Writers are generally split into two camps: those who carefully outline their stories and know the ending before they begin, and those who refuse to do so upon the theory that once a character is created he or she will do something interesting.

the Ritz-Carlton next door. At the boardwalk she rinsed her feet, put on the sandals, strolled by the empty pool, and went inside, where she found Elaine waiting at a table in the elegant bar.

“You have to tell me about the dinner party with Myra and Leigh.”

sun yellow and olive green, the basic colors of rustic Provençal tableware.

At the bottom, though, were these three books, all first editions from the public library in Memphis, all checked out by Tessa in 1985. When Tessa moved to the beach, she either intentionally or inadvertently brought these three books with her. Thirty years later, you have them.”

The crucial aspect here is to become a small part in his shady business.”

We should have a literary intervention, right now, around this table. Mercer, you’ve been here for what, a month or so, and haven’t written a damned word that might one day be sold, and, frankly, I’m getting kinda tired of your moaning and bellyaching about not making any

progress with the novel.

literary fiction or popular fiction?”

“Can’t it be both?”

a highly fictionalized story of Charles Dickens and his mistress, a young actress named Ellen Ternan.

another famous affair, one between William Faulkner and Meta Carpenter.

Ernest Hemingway had a quick romance with Zelda Fitzgerald

it seems dishonest to tamper with the lives of real people and make them do things they didn’t really do. Sure they’re dead, but does that give writers the license to fictionalize their lives?

She had stayed away from the place for eleven years and returned with great trepidation, but in short order she had managed to put aside the awfulness of Tessa’s death and dwell on the memories she cherished.

“That’s why they invented siestas,” she said helpfully, easing him along.

This remark seems to point to Mercer being more involved in the undercover work than the author has previously or even after Word alluded to

He claims Noel doesn’t care.

Couldn’t no marriage license signal a freedom to her to go ahead and have sex with him?

My point is that I think I know him well enough to detect any skepticism.”

This is ironic after you’re finished

He cared nothing for loyalty and trust. Why should she?

She shrugged off any hint of guilt and actually smiled at the thought of a vigorous weekend in his bed.

“Okay, I hate prologues. I just finished a novel by a guy who’s touring and will stop by next week. He always starts every book with the typical prologue, something dramatic like a killer stalking a woman or a dead body, then will leave the reader hanging, go to chapter 1, which, of course, has nothing to do with the prologue, then to chapter 2, which, of course, has nothing to

“Another rookie mistake is to introduce twenty characters in the first chapter. Five’s enough and won’t confuse your reader. Next, if you feel the need to go to the thesaurus, look for a word with three syllables or fewer. I have a nice vocabulary

and nothing ticks me off more than a writer showing off with big words I’ve never seen before. Next, please, please use quotation marks with dialogue; otherwise it’s bewildering. Rule Number Five: Most writers say too much, so always look for things to cut, like throwaway sentences and unnecessary scenes. I could go on.”

don’t know. It just seems weird having dinner at a nice place on a Saturday night with a married man.”

In her suite, she changed into a bikini, admired herself in the mirror,

We’re not talking about love; we’re talking about sex. Pure physical pleasure. You’re not about to get involved with a married man and I don’t do relationships. We’ll get it on whenever you want or we can stop right now. We’ll be friends with no strings attached.”

They had the proof, the answer they so desperately needed, but could she deliver? Could she take the next crucial step and make the call that would send Bruce to prison for the next ten years?

“Money. I was broke, in debt, vulnerable. A lot of excuses,

1. Throughout the novel, Mercer claims that she’s not comfortable lying and being deceitful, yet she become rather adept at both once the novel progresses. How

easy is it to fall deeper into assigned roles, even when the tasks you are performing seem against your nature?

3. Discuss Mercer’s motives for going along with Elaine’s plan. Do you agree with them?