Laura Brodie: The Widow's Season
Book Club Discussion

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Sarah's infertility is central to this story. What made you decide to use this storyline as a vehicle for the failing marriage?

There were two reasons. First, I wanted a protagonist who felt that her life was off-track, and who was mourning many things, not only her husband, but also her babies, her inadequate career, her lost sense of purpose. The challenge for Sarah is to bring herself back to life, to resurrect her own spirit.

Second, I knew that for this novel to work, Sarah and David could not have children. The presence of children would make David's time alone in the woods completely inexcusable. It's bad enough for a husband to leave his wife for several months, but if he had walked out on his kids no reader would be able to tolerate him.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

I have to come right out and ask, does Sarah marry David because she really wants Nate? Or is Nate just the "forbidden fruit," which she badly wants to taste and feels slighted because he considers her "off limits?"

Sarah married the right man for her personality. David was a good fit for her at the time, but she had always felt a physical attraction to Nate. I don't think that physical attraction is enough to sustain a marriage, but it helps to get Sarah out of her doldrums, reconnecting her with the world.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

I spent much of the novel, which you certainly intended, trying to figure out if David was a ghost, if he might actually be alive, or if Sarah was totally crazy. In the Afterword, you make mention of all three, saying that the dead husbands, "eyes, joined by the eyes of God, see everything." Which situation did Sarah think she found herself in during the course of the novel and why?

In my original ending, I never resolved whether David was alive or dead through the entire novel. He simply walked away at the end, and I left it to readers to decide for themselves. But my agent had a hard time selling that ending. Most editors wanted closure. Now, the ending never settles whether Sarah was encountering a "real" ghost, or whether David existed only in her mind, and I intentionally maintained that ambiguity because I enjoy the lingering mystery. But I ruled out the possibility that David was ever alive, and I think Sarah must have known the entire time that she was not dealing with a living man. I don't view her as completely crazy, which she would have to be to maintain that level of delusion. Instead, she is lingering between imagination and the possibilities of the spiritual world.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

You spend a great deal of time describing Sarah's surroundings, from home to nature to food. Why are these descriptions important to the tone of the story?

When I read a novel, I don't want excessive descriptions of the setting that slow down the plot, but I always want just enough sensory information: sights and smells and sounds--so that I can fully imagine the surroundings. The presence of the river, woods and mountains are especially important for the novel's dream-like atmosphere.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

I felt like an underlying, somewhat depressing, theme was that all marriages, even the good ones, have the possibility of failure. What message did you want to send about relationships and marriage?

All relationships are difficult, and take ongoing effort. I've been married for twenty-three years, so I know that marriages evolve and take unexpected turns, and need constant work. Break-ups are always possible, even in good relationships. Especially when people have been married for over a decade, and are approaching age forty, I think there is a tendency to look at all aspects of life (marriage, career, location) and ask yourself "Is this the right direction for me/us?" Those questions can make a relationship stronger, or they can end it.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Explain the significance of David's paintings. Does his final portrait of Sarah actually exist?

David is a doctor, and I wanted him to have a dream that he had never pursued, something that could compel him to walk away from his life and start again. Painting seemed like the best option because he could practice it in isolation. The painting left at the end is real, but it was completed years earlier.

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Laura Brodie

Can you tell us anything about your current writing projects?

In April I have a memoir coming out with HarperCollins called Love in a Time of Homeschooling, which is about one year when I gave my ten-year-old daughter a break from her public school routine. It's a funny, warm book about mother-daughter relationships, and all the frustrations parents face today with public education (excessive homework, too much preparation for standardized tests, peer problems, etc.) Homeschooling has its problems too-I'm very honest about my failures in the process, but I think there are a lot of parents in America who look at their kids' educations and wish for something better. I tried to craft my own vision of an ideal year of schooling, and this book talks about what worked, and what went wrong.

Another novel will also be coming in two years, set in western Virginia, and full of mystery, death and a mother-daughter relationship but no ghosts.