Bookreporter.com - Author Profile: Anita Shreve

Anita Shreve

BIO

Anita Shreve grew up in Dedham, Massachusetts (just outside Boston), the eldest of three daughters. Early literary influences include having read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton when she was a junior in high school (a short novel she still claims as one of her favorites) and everything Eugene O'Neill ever wrote while she was a senior (to which she attributes a somewhat dark streak in her own work). After graduating from Tufts University, she taught high school for a number of years in and around Boston. In the middle of her last year, she quit (something that, as a parent, she finds appalling now) to start writing. "I had this panicky sensation that it was now or never."

Joking that she could wallpaper her bathroom with rejections from magazines for her short stories ("I really could have," she says), she published her early work in literary journals. One of these stories, "Past the Island, Drifting," won an O. Henry prize. Despite this accolade, she quickly learned that one couldn't make a living writing short fiction. Switching to journalism, Shreve traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, where she lived for three years, working as a journalist for an African magazine. One of her novels, The Last Time They Met, contains bits and pieces from her time in Africa.

Returning to the United States, Shreve was a writer and editor for a number of magazines in New York. Later, when she began her family, she turned to freelancing, publishing in the New York Times Magazine, New York magazine and dozens of others. In 1989, she published her first novel, Eden Close. Since then she has written 12 other novels, among them The Weight of Water, The Pilot's Wife, The Last Time They Met, A Wedding in December, and Body Surfing.

In 1998, Shreve received the PEN/L. L. Winship Award and the New England Book Award for fiction. In 1999, she received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey, and The Pilot's Wife became the 25th selection of Oprah's Book Club and an international bestseller. In April 2002, CBS aired the film version of The Pilot's Wife, starring Christine Lahti, and in fall 2002, The Weight of Water, starring Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Penn, was released in movie theaters.

Still in love with the novel form, Shreve writes only in that genre. "The best analogy I can give to describe writing for me is daydreaming," she says. "A certain amount of craft is brought to bear, but the experience feels very dreamlike."

Shreve is married to a man she met when she was 13. She has two children and three stepchildren, and in the last eight years has made tuition payments to seven colleges and universities.

INTERVIEW

April 13 , 2001

Anita Shreve was poised for bestselling greatness when her novel THE PILOT'S WIFE was chosen as an Oprah book in April of 1999. Shreve's latest work THE LAST TIME THEY MET, proves that her official Oprah status was just one honor in what promises to be a multi-milestoned career. Please join Bookreporter.com writer Rachel Kempster as she chats with Shreve about her connection to Africa, the book's unconventional chronology, and much more.

BRC: Africa plays a central role in THE LAST TIME THEY MET. Have you ever spent time in the country, or studied it in depth? What was your impetus for setting part of the novel there?

AS: I lived in Nairobi for three years in the late 1970s. I set part of the novel there because I wanted a wider canvas for this one.

BRC: Suffice it to say, the ending of the book left quite an impact. Did you plan for that the ending all along? Or did it just "occur" at some unexpected point in the writing process?

AS: The ending of the book was its "raison d'etre." The conceit for the novel is contained within a description of Thomas's life's work in THE WEIGHT OF WATER.

BRC: Did you imagine that readers would go back and read the novel again after digesting the ending? If so, how did that affect the way you worked?

AS: I thought that readers might go back and read the book again. (Well, skim it again perhaps.) I did plant clues, clues that are not meant to register too much at the time of the first reading, but that might click in once the book had been read and the ending digested.

BRC: THE LAST TIME THEY MET begins at the present and moves backwards. As it does, the love story between Linda and Thomas is fully unraveled. Why did you choose such an unconventional chronology?

AS: Given the conceit of the novel --- that this is the story of an imagined life --- the novel had to be written backwards. One couldn't admit that Linda was dead at 17, and then expect the reader to believe in her as alive at 26 and 52. Hence, the chronology.

BRC: The cumulative affect of going back in time and seeing Linda and Thomas make the choices that will forever change them is wrenching. Are regret and loss of innocence recurring themes of yours?

AS: Yes, I think it would be fair to say that. These themes are probably most heightened in this work, however.

BRC: Thomas and Linda, are both writers. Is it difficult writing about writers? Or did you find it helpful to have a personal point of reference?

AS: They are writers, but not in the same way that I am. By making them poets gives me a bit of distance. Also, the theme of the power of words is important to the novel. They, more than most, would be aware of that.

BRC: What was the most difficult part of the novel to write? Did this book pose any special technical problems for you? Conversely, what was the easy part of the writing process for you?

AS: The easiest section of the book to write was the Africa section. It is the only time in my life that I ever kept a diary. Unearthing those diaries helped lend an immediacy to the impressionistic writing that was helpful. The hardest part to write is always the beginning.

BRC: What is your writing schedule like?

AS: I write in the mornings. Like a lot of women, I've learned to write when my kids are in school.

BRC: What were your influences for this novel in particular? Were you working with any kind of model in your head?

AS: Truthfully, I didn't have any.

BRC: Do you feel any new pressures as a writer after being an Oprah book author?

AS: Not really. I learned early on that it's death to a work of imagination to think about anyone else while writing a book. Ultimately, you have to write for yourself.

BRC: What book(s) is currently on your nightstand?

AS: A lot of English books. Just finished John Banville's new novel, as well as the Justin Cartwright, HALF IN LOVE. Also the new P.D. James.

INTERVIEW

January 21, 2000

In FORTUNE'S ROCKS, Anita Shreve presents us with yet another poignant and sympathetic tale taking place at the turn of the twentieth century. Her novel focuses on the awakening of young Olympia Biddeford as she turns from child to woman one fateful summer and follows what happens to her afterwards. TBR Senior Writer Jana Sicilano asks the talented Ms. Shreve what inspired her to write her latest novel, her thoughts on teenage pregnancy in the 20th and 21st centuries, how her life changed since Oprah selected her novel THE PILOT'S WIFE for her book club, and much more in this interview.

TBR: What were your inspirations for FORTUNE'S ROCKS?

AS: The inspiration for the story came out of the same "house" as THE PILOT'S WIFE. Any house with age has a great many stories to it. While writing FORTUNE'S ROCKS, I was watching my daughter go through the tender ages of fourteen through sixteen, and I was struck with that passage of girlhood to womanhood.

TBR: Is Olympia modeled after anyone you know? How do you come up with characters --- do you often, or ever, borrow from reality?

AS: No, she's not, but she and I share a similar sensibility. We have certain thoughts in common and make similar judgments, but basically Olympia is a figment of my imagination. As far as other characters go, mostly they come from my imagination but often there are threads of reality. A novel is made up of different bits and pieces that come at you from all directions, including bits of people you may have known. A character may have similar characteristics of someone I once knew, but is really quite different.

TBR: How does being an only child affect Olympia's character --- or does it?

AS: I think being an only child definitely does affect Olympia. She has been the focus of her father's intense attention --- in a perfectly good way --- for her entire life. In a sense, she is his "experiment," since he has homeschooled and educated her. If Olympia had a brother, it's most likely that she would have been relegated to second tier position and all her father's attention would have gone to his son.

TBR: Another book published this year, AMY AND ISABELLE by Elizabeth Strout, also tackles the theme of an older man/teenage girl affair. What interests you about this kind of relationship?

AS: It's a very risky relationship and by all standards, inappropriate --- ironically less inappropriate a hundred years ago than now. Back then it was more likely that a 16-year-old would be involved and possibly marry a much older man. The point I was making in the story is that I wanted to show that the moment of reconfiguration has nothing to do with age, class, or position --- it can happen anytime, anywhere, and the real question is whether the principals act upon it.

TBR: Did you consider including the suffragist movement as a possible background for Olympia's story? Or is this movement not mentioned in the story because her world is so closed-in?

AS: I didn't include the suffragist movement in the story because I didn't want politics to factor in. I'm not interested in political movements in fiction. I feel it's always risky for fiction writers to have a political agenda, my goal was to create and show a rather strong female character.

TBR: Olympia is a pregnant teenager during the turn of the century, 1899. What would Olympia do if it was 1999 --- similar results --- or different novel? How has the stigma of teenage pregnancy changed --- or has it?

AS: The stigma of teenage pregnancy has changed radically since 1899. In that day and age, the pregnant teen and her entire family were "ruined." You had to be hidden away, isolated, and you rarely got to raise the child. You had no support of any party --- no government or charitable party. Today, while it's still considered a tragedy because it does close off a lot of options, there is more support for pregnant teens among teachers and family (once they get over the initial shock). It would be very rare that the girl today would have to go into hiding.

TBR: Was Olympia's option the only one available to women in her situation? Or were there other options?

AS: If other options mean abortions, then yes, I think there have always been abortions, even in 1899. They must have been awfully risky, but even so, Olympia did not have access to finding out about them. She wouldn't have had anyone to ask because essentially she was a prisoner in her father's house right after the affair was discovered, BEFORE they realized she was pregnant. She was not in a position to find someone who could help her. But it is an interesting question --- would she have looked into having an abortion if she could have? Somehow I doubt it.

TBR: How does the idea of Olympia being homeschooled change her character? Did you use it in order to make her more intelligent and seemingly worldly when she was really so young?

AS: I wanted Olympia to be homeschooled because it was important to her character and to the story for her to be learned and educated. Her father encouraged her to speak for herself, and by educating her he has exposed her to all kinds of situations in the world. So even though she's been sheltered, she does have a bookish mentality.

TBR: How do you see your book regarding class prejudices and women's sexuality?

AS: In my book, the sympathies are clearly with the people victims of class prejudice and the book is in praise of women's sexuality.

TBR: Were you surprised to find the religious zealotry and fear prevalent at the turn of the century similar to what's going on now in the dawning of the millennium?

AS: Yes, I think that's always true, at the turn of every century there is that primitive fear that the world is going to end. But it's the specific date we pay attention to --- no one is nervous on January 3rd, the fear lasts only until December 31st. It's a fleeting fear, when it's over, it's over.

TBR: How has your writing life --- and your life in general --- changed since your book, THE PILOT'S WIFE, was chosen as an Oprah book club selection?

AS: My writing has changed not at all since Oprah, however, it has put a dent in my writing schedule. There has been more of everything --- events, signings, etc. But the flip side is I have many more readers which is wonderful.

TBR: So many books are being turned into movies --- what novel of yours would you most like to see on the big screen?

AS: My novel, THE WEIGHT OF WATER actually will be on the big screen later on in 2000 --- it's already been filmed and stars Sean Penn and Elizabeth Hurley. I am in the process of writing the screenplay for THE PILOT'S WIFE which is slated to be a CBS made for TV movie. The book I would love to see as a film is FORTUNE'S ROCKS. I can see it in my mind. The locale is gorgeous, I think it would make an exquisite Merchant Ivory film.

TBR: You used to teach at Amherst College, what is the one thing you wanted them to learn before leaving your class?

AS: I wanted them metaphorically to learn how to make a very good chair, as in learn the craft of writing. I'm not interested in the "artiste" aspect of writing. They should be able to write and shape a story even if it's only four pages long.

TBR: Do you miss teaching?

AS: Yes, I really loved it and I would certainly go back to it. At the moment, however I don't miss anything --- it's all I can do to do everything I have to do.

TBR: Do you always have a story running through your head? If so, can you give us a quick insight into what you are writing next?

AS: I'm always working on something, but unfortunately I can't give a preview --- I'm too superstitious. I never talk about what I'm writing while I'm writing it. I can tell you that my next novel will most likely come out a year from this spring.

TBR: What are you reading now?

AS: I'm reading the new Caroline Preston novel, LUCY CROCKER 2.0, and THE MUSIC LESSON by Katharine Weber. Another book that I really love is Elinor Lipman's THE LADIES MAN.

TBR: As a child, what was the one book that most made you want to be a writer yourself? Do you have favorite authors from the past that inspire you still today?

AS: ETHAN FROME by Edith Wharton is that one book, but I also was and am still inspired by Eugene O'Neill, Nathaniel Hawthorn, and Edith Wharton.

TBR: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

AS: Don't quit --- ever.