Elin Hilderbrand
Author Chat

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

The plot of Barefoot is very intricate and detailed. How did it evolve in your mind? Which part of the story took shape first or which character's life did you know you were going to write about and how did that instigate the action of the others?

I started by writing a different novel called "One Perfect Year," about two sisters (Vicki and Brenda). One sister (Brenda) has a really good year – she gets her doctorate and lands a plum teaching job, while the other sister has a horrible year (she finds out she has cancer). This novel did not work out for various reasons...it was set in New York City, where I have lived but the novel took off once the sisters got to Nantucket for the summer, and I realized this novel needed to be set in Nantucket and be set during the summer.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Vicki's cancer seemed scary because she didn't do anything to get it. She was healthy and a non-smoker which makes it all the more horrifying! Did you give her this condition in this manner to show that bad things often happen to good people?

I wanted her to have a cancer other than breast cancer. Lung cancer is actually very prevalent in non-smoking women. I also wanted to be able to use a lot of breathing/air images.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Why is Walsh older than Brenda? Do you feel it lends more credibility to their love if he is mature? How would Brenda's story have been different if Walsh was, say, 25?

The crucial thing was that Walsh was not a teenager. I wanted him to be an older student, and having him actually be older than Brenda seemed like a neat twist.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Seven rounds of in vitro is hard to fathom, yet there is no mention of why Peter and Melanie continually fail to get pregnant. Many women of child-bearing age worry this will happen to them. Was Melanie's getting pregnant when she finally stopped worrying about it an example of how sometimes we can be our own worst enemies?

I have seen this happen with people I know personally again and again...so much of getting pregnant is a head game. Once the pressure is off, the body senses it.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Why doesn't the narrative delve deeper into the back story of Josh's mother? Did she kill herself due to seasonal depression as alluded to throughout the novel? In your opinion are there really women so unhappy, so desperate that they would leave behind a child with no concern?

Josh's mother is a minor character, and there is so much going on that I didn't have time or space to explore why she killed herself. In my mind, I considered her to be very depressed, back in the days when this condition went untreated.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

How did you prepare for these stories? As a reader, I would be certain you had been through lung cancer, got caught having an illicit affair with a student, finally gotten pregnant after seven in vitro attempts, and were a young man on the verge of a quarter-life crisis! You have an amazing ability to really get into character and I'm wondering what helped you do this for each one?

Ah, it is the talent of the novelist to be able to put yourself in other people's minds.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Who is your favorite character in this novel? Why?

Josh...it has always, bizarrely, been the case that young/teenage boys/men are my favorite characters. Perhaps because I like the developing male psyche.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

Did you always know Vicki would be a survivor?

Oh God, yes. First of all, I loved her too much to kill her off. Secondly, I knew my readers would love her, and would be furious if I killed her off...and I am a great believer in hope.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

One of the major themes, I found intriguing was coming to terms with the "big bad wolf" in your life so to speak. For Vicki, it was finding peace at the thought of death. For Brenda, it was finding out who she might be if not "Lowly Bookwork." For Melanie, it was finding out if she was capable or interested in giving her marriage another chance for the sake of her child. How did this shared summer influence the decision each woman finally comes to in the end about their personal lives?

Well, I am a big believer in giving yourself time and space to think. All three of my women characters needed this time and space, they needed to step out of their regular lives. That they lived on an island, that they lived in a house with basically no technology (which kept the outside world at bay) and the fact that they all interfaced with the amazing character of Josh Flynn allowed them to discover things about themselves.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

What happens to Josh?! He was the only character I felt unsettled about. Does he become a writer? Does his dad stop eating an Iceberg salad every night? Does he come back for the Stowe's another summer? Can you put an adoring fan's mind at rest? Is he going to be okay?!

I think it's clear from the way the novel ends that Josh has had the summer of a lifetime, he has learned as much from the women as they have learned from him, and he is going to take his life lessons and move forward as a much more evolved human being. Josh is not going to be okay; he is going to be an incredible husband and father.

Author Chat: Elin Hilderbrand

In your Acknowledgements you say "this book marks a new beginning for me." What beginning are you referring to? How is this novel different than your past ones?

I was referring to my new publisher, Little, Brown. My first five novels were published by St Martin's Press, and the change, for me, has been breathtaking.

BCQ: A Summer Affair has just come out - congratulations! Do you have any other projects in the works you can share with us?

Elin: I am hard, hard at work on a novel for next summer called The Castaways.