Whitney
asked
Maggie Shipstead:
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[I loved Astonish Me and was blown away by the ending. Throughout the novel, I wondered whether we would learn the reason why Arslan picked Joan to help him defect or if you would leave it to the reader to speculate. How important was it for you to share Arslan's reasoning from his point of view? Did you consider leaving that part unspoken? (hide spoiler)]
Maggie Shipstead
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[There was a little bit of debate between me and my trusted readers--my agent and my editors in the US and UK--about whether or not to include that final mini-chapter, but I was always sure I wanted to. For a couple reasons. So much of what happens to Joan and her feelings of disorientation in her life come from this question of "why me?" I felt I had to answer that question both for the reader and for my own clarity. Also, the previous chapter ends on a big, loud, dramatic note, and I wanted something to bring the volume down a bit. The whole book, in a way, is meant to feel like a ballet--to have an emotional swell to it and moments of melodrama and characters who are constantly moving through new configurations. So Joan and Jacob's moment is the grand finale, but Arslan's section is the way the music echoes away before the conductor lowers his baton. At least, that's the way I put it in an impassioned email to my UK editor, and he was like, "Okay, okay. Knock yourself out." (hide spoiler)]
More Answered Questions
Susanna
asked
Maggie Shipstead:
I love your novels, thanks for writing! I would like to know how you come up with the characters? When reading your books, it seems like you can describe what men and women of different ages are thinking and feeling so incredibly well. How did you gain the ability to imagine this? Is it something that you just understand or is it something you deliberately studied?
Maggie Shipstead
1,908 followers
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Jan 21, 2015 03:12PM · flag