The last time Nantucket author Nancy Thayer and I had lunch together, she packed a picnic and we headed for the moors because she wanted to introduce me to one of her very favorite spots on the island. This time we met at a Hyannis restaurant over Prosecco and salads before her speaking engagement. Among the topics we discussed over lunch and later through e-mails were the state of publishing, our work in progress and, of course, the books we loved and what we are currently recommending to others.
AL: What was the first book you remember loving as a child?
NT: I’ve always been in love with books, and so has my husband, which makes me worry that someday our historic 1840’s house will finally sink into the ground beneath the weight of our laden bookshelves. No doubt when it happens we’ll be sitting in our armchairs, reading.
The first book I remember is The Pokey Little Puppy, but my first obsession was The House at Pooh Corner. I started reading when I was four, and became so attached to the book that my grandfather nicknamed me Pooh, a name that today would send my 5-year-old grandson into raptures of laughter. I remember worrying terribly about Eeyore. As an adult, I gained some insight into his condition and wished he could have taken anti-depressants, and I often remark of a living person, “He’s just like Eeyore.” All these years later, I’m still emotionally involved with a fictional character in a child’s book. Such is the power of books. A few years ago, I learned that Milne had also written a very British country house murder mystery, The Red House Mystery. That amazed me—such a range of genre for one author! It’s a good mystery, too.
AL: My mother was a reader f mysteries and that is how I came to read them. I’d pick the one she just finished – perhaps an Earl Stanley Gardner or Agatha Christie – begin. What drew you to mysteries?
NT: The Nancy Drew books were my pre-teen passion and I was amazed all over again to discover they weren’t written by one person but by several people—men and women–from the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the name Carolyn Keene. I’m still recovering from the shock.
AL: What books influenced you as an early writer?
NT: I received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English literature, so I read many excellent books, but the course material was all bullfights and war. I wanted to write about ordinary women, ordinary families, because even the most ordinary life is full of comedy and anger and slammed doors and magic. Not until my early thirties did I truly fall in love with an adult book– The Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro. Her beautifully written books are about “regular” people in “normal conditions” and when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, I opened a bottle of champagne.
I love to read mysteries, but I simply can’t write one. Or, put another way, all of my books are mysteries, because they are about families, and what is more mysterious than a family? And the more we learn about families from research and from science, the more mysterious families become, sort of like the universe itself. My first novel, Stepping, published in 1980, was about being a stepmother. My newest novel, The Island House, is about a large fortunate family with a hidden kink in their DNA.
AL: What is your advice for beginning writers?
NT: Stepping was categorized as “Women’s Fiction.” The Island House is classified as a “Beach Book.” My advice to new writers is to write what you believe, what you want to write, and don’t worry about categories. The horizon for books is constantly expanding–take, for example Spencer Quinn’s clever mystery series written from the point of view of a dog. Completely believable—and very funny. And remember, The House at Pooh Corner is considered a children’s book. May we all write one book that is loved as much and for as long!
Asked what five books she currently wants to press into the hands of other readers, Nancy gave the following list.
1. EVEN THE DEAD by Benjamin Black. This series is set in Ireland in the 50’s. Black also writes as John Banville, and I’ll be reading his new novel, The Blue Guitar, as well. He writes like an angel–an angry, cranky angel.
2. TWO IF BY SEA by Jackie Mitchard. It is not purely a mystery but also a novel about survival, family, and magic.
3. TRULY MADLY GUILTY by Lianne Moriarty, Truly Madly Guilty. Moriarty’s books are a compelling combination of “normal” domestic life and crime–or is it crime? Fascinating. This doesn’t come out until August, but I’ll grab it then.
4. THE SHATTERED TREE by Charles Todd. This mother/son team set their books in the aftermath of WWI. This is part of their Bess Crawford Series. Their books are like Sherlock Holmes detecting a crime in Downton Abbey, with more gravitas.
5. BOAR ISLAND by Nevada Barr. Written in a brisk, brilliant voice, these books are set in various national parks all over the country and star a National Park Service Ranger. Boar Island is set in Maine. An island in Maine? How could I resist?
What books are you reading this summer? Please join our conversation.
Anne LeClaire is the best-selling author of eight novels, the latest of which is “The Lavender Hour.”
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