Elizabeth Brundage: Somebody Else's Daughter
Book Club Discussion

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

"You couldn't teach kindness, she thought. It was something you were born with. People either had it or they didn't." Do you believe that kindness cannot be taught?

I think it's important for parents to make an effort to teach kindness. Education and the way we educate are crucial to allowing children to understand how to be compassionate and empathetic. However, people are born with certain personality traits; some people are naturally more understanding and tolerant than others. So much depends upon how one is raised, the kind of environment one lives in, and the values that are given priority in the household.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

What made you focus on Willa's adoption and the fact that her biological father didn't tell her who he really was?

I am a happily adopted person. I have always wanted to write about the subject because if you are an adopted person you cannot completely forget that you were born to an anonymous set of people – that mystery, to some degree, informs your life no matter what – not necessarily in a negative way – being adopted is one of your traits, so to speak. It is a fact of your existence that cannot be disputed. And yet, it is a highly sensitive and personal reality.

When Nate moves back to the Berkshires and gets to know his biological daughter, he ultimately makes the decision not to tell her who he is. Some readers have been curious about that. In my mind, it is a noble decision that he makes. He recognizes that Willa is a well adjusted teenager and has a good life with her parents. He comes to the conclusion that telling her would be an almost selfish act – it would most likely disrupt her life and her relationship with her parents and there is little good that can come from that. Therefore, he determines to keep it to himself.

As a child, I didn't know much of anything at all about my biological parents, although my parents were very open with me. I always knew I was adopted, and in fact my "adoption day" had more emotional significance to me than my birthday. My birthday was something to celebrate, but it also had elements of loss. It's interesting. Once I started having children I became more curious about my genetic history and found out some information about my biological parents. Ultimately, knowing didn't have much influence on who I was or how I think about myself and yet it was liberating to know certain things. I realized how lucky I had been to be adopted – to have parents who were prepared to raise me and love me – as my biological parents were very young. It also gave me a deeper understanding of how difficult it must have been for my biological mother to have made the decision to give me up. Certainly, that decision had an enormous impact on her life.

These are some of the things I wanted to explore in the novel.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

There are some very strong topics in this story including: abuse, pornography, prostitution, drugs and murder. What made you decide to incorporate all of these into one novel?

It's true that there are a lot of subjects covered in the novel. The way I see it, those subjects inform our lives on a daily basis. People's lives converge and within those relationships a variety of issues come to light. For me, it wasn't that I wanted "to write about pornography." I wanted to write about a man like Joe who happens to be in that business and whose teenage daughter is just coming into her own as a young woman. I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose his character with a feminist sculptor whose representations of women attempt to explore the objectification of women. The other "subjects" covered were really character traits – Ada's bulimia, Candace's insecurities, Pearl's drug addiction. To some degree, all of the characters a struggling with their sense of identity.

We are a bruised society, a culture beleaguered by profound expectations. You don't have to work that hard to see problems in the lives of the people around you. It is my goal as a writer to explore some of the problems, to see what causes them and to try to find a way to resolve them.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

Joe Golding had a very controversial profession but went with his wife and daughter to the Temple for services. Why was his Jewish faith important to this story?

Faith is important to people for a variety of reasons. The subject of faith interests me. I wanted to show that Joe has his flaws, but he also has his own version of integrity. He considers himself to be a good Jew and he is seeking something from his faith – something he hasn't quite found and can't even put into words. He is searching for meaning in his life. I am interested in the question: what is meaningful? Even people who involve themselves in disreputable pursuits may still have a sense of faith and commitment to faith. However, it's possible that they are also looking for absolution, a way to assuage their guilt. Religion in general can serve both purposes.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

In a quote from the book, a very interesting question appears "...Is it impossible to have a simple life?" What do you think?

I'm more interested in the question than the answer. We live in complicated times. I suppose it is possible to have a simple life, but you have to be committed to the idea of simplicity, and that's challenging. Also, everyone has a different idea of what simple is...so I think it's more useful to consider the question – what is simple? What would a simple life look and feel like? Truthfully, I'm not sure I can supply the answer.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

Is there anything in your life that you would consider to be both a blessing and a curse?

Absolutely. Writing. That's an easy one. Having the ability to write is like having a disease that you can't shake. On the one hand, you have to honor it. You have to "treat" the symptoms. On the other, you just wish you could somehow recover. Writing a novel is like going off on a trip for a period of time – in your regular life you're not completely present – the landscape of the novel, the people, the problems, are always in your head. You've always got this nagging ache in your brain, the only remedy for which is finishing. Sorry to sound so dramatic, but at least for me it's true. As a writer, I am eager to look at the "big" questions, the compelling issues that inform our lives for better or worse. Maybe it's a bit like golf. You hit this little ball off into the distance, trying to get it in a hole. The ball floats in the air for a while. You have just so much skill, and there are other things involved – the wind and the sun and the rain – who your opponents are – and many sand traps along the way. But I'll tell you this much. Writing a good paragraph is like getting a hole in one. There's nothing better than that. And it's why you keep going out there. You just want to get better at it. It's something that can bring both tremendous frustration and the greatest possible satisfaction.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Elizabeth Brundage

Can you tell us anything about your current writing projects?

I just finished a new novel that takes place in Hollywood.