About the Author
frequently asked questions

You've been happily married to your husband, Jim Lehrer, since the two of you were in your twenties. So readers may be surprised that you are writing about a female bigamist in your new novel. What inspired you to tell the story of Michelle Banyon, a successful career woman who has two husbands?

That's the question my family-most particularly my husband-is also asking! There's no simple answer. I just liked the idea of a woman going against the norm-in the extreme. What if a woman-an otherwise normal American woman-happened to have two husbands at the same time?! Could she really pull it off? From there I began telling myself the story of what happens to such a woman. I suppose I also wanted to stir some small pot of mischief.
 
Your heroine is torn between her two husbands, but would like to keep them both. Are you saying that bigamy is okay for some women?
No. And yes. Plus maybe. Seriously, if I'm advocating anything, it's a rich fantasy life for women-and men. Fantasies are a wonderful outlet for our frustrations and disappointments. Most people I know couldn't so without their secret interior lives as a way of escaping the daily humdrum. They're always exploring alternative possibilities within themselves. Michelle, my fictional protagonist, merely plays out a fantasy, one that I believe is shared by many real women.
 
Perhaps the most famous female bigamist was Anais Nin. Were you familiar with her experiences? What is your opinion of her adventure into bigamy?
I was very familiar with her life, but wrote the entire first draft without thinking of her at all. The tricks our memories play! Of course, once I realized her influence, I went back and tipped my hat to her. I owed her a lot. As for her adventure into bigamy, it seemed to work pretty well for her. Having two husbands, however, wasn't even half of her strange and complex life.
 

You often write in your novels about strong women who push the boundaries of society. Surely this heroine, Michelle Banyon, is going further than any of your other characters. Why do strong, rebellious women appeal to you and what do you want your readers to learn from them?
I grew up around strong, rebellious women, including my mother, and spent my youth reading those 19th century novels filled with willful women. I could lose my own nice, polite self in their exploits, but I don't think learning something was the issue. For a while, the reader is inside another life and another sliver of humanity is revealed. A strong character in life or in literature is to be experienced, and we take away from the experience whatever we need, whatever shores us up.
 
Your novel raises provocative questions about the state of marriage in the 21st century. Is marriage all it's cracked up to be?
It cracks different ways for different couples, obviously. It's a terrific way to live a life for some, a way of misery for others. If it weren't for that insidious notion of "happily ever after," many people would skip marriage altogether and those who chose it might have a better chance of succeeding.
 
Your novel also calls in question the notion that today's career woman can have it all and can also be in control of her life. As a matter of fact, Michelle's career is as an "efficiency consultant," an ironic job for someone whose life seems to spin out of control. What are you saying about today's high-powered career woman?
The same thing I'm saying about all women of today. Women have always been pulled in so many different directions-work, family, friends, communities-and never more so than now. We're bombarded by conflicting choices, conflicting information, conflicting needs, and conflicting demands on our time. The irony in this case is a direct result of our sense of freedom from old strictures.
 
We have to ask - what are the secrets to your long and happy marriage, especially as a dual career couple in a city like Washington, D.C.?
We may drive each other nuts at times but we don't bore each other. And we have a knack for making the other laugh. We really like each other. We're given to fussing, too, which keeps us on our toes. A lot of this is the luck of the draw, but we've also worked very, very hard to hold onto our luck.
 
You did not begin your writing career until after your three daughters were grown. Now you have four acclaimed novels to your name. Did you always know you'd be a writer? Tell us how you got started.

Always I knew I wanted to write. I came from a story-telling culture. I read stories and told stories and wrote stories. Growing up, I liked stories better than just about anything; still do. After my children were in school and I finally came up for air, I wrote a children's novel and then an adult one, neither published. Editors were enthusiastic about my writing but not about the books themselves. Next, I submitted the first draft of a new novel to an editor who didn't buy it but worked with me for two years while I honed my craft. Only then did he publish it. At the time, I didn't think so, but being a late bloomer has served me well.

 

 

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