โ Scribed by Laura Lippman
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the pastand the terrible lie they all shared. But now Gordon ("Go-Go"), the youngest and wildest of the five, has died unexpectedly and the other four have come together for the first time in years. Suddenly each of these old friends has to wonder if the dark secret they've shared for so long is the reason for their troubles today . . . and if someone within the circle is trying to destroy them all.
Product Description
Some secrets cant be kept
Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the pastand the terrible lie they all shared. But now Gordon, the youngest and wildest of the five, has died and the others are thrown together for the first time in years.
And then the revelations start.
Could their long-ago lie be the reason for their troubles today? Is it more dangerous to admit to what theyve done or is it the strain of keeping the secret that is beginning to wear on them and everyone close to them? Each one of these old friends has to wonder if their secret has been discoveredand if someone within the circle is out to destroy them.
Amazon Exclusive: Kate Atkinson Interviews Laura Lippman
Kate Atkinsons first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named Whitbread Book of the Year in the U.K. in 1995, and was followed by Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Not the End of the World, Case Histories and One Good Turn.
Kate Atkinson: You employ the first person plural in parts of the new novel. Its quite a startling device (I loved it in Joshua Ferriss Then We Came to the End). Why did you use it in The Most Dangerous Thing?
Laura Lippman: The decision was intuitive at firstthat is, I knew it was right, without knowing why it was right. When I finished the book, I realized that these passages are a consensual version of what happened in the past, that the survivors have agreed on what happened and thats why the story is, at turns, unflattering to each of them. They are working out their level of culpability in several tragedies and they just cant face this alone. And that voice allowed me to include a subtext of gloom and forebodingthe story is being told by people who know how badly it ends.
KA: Do you think you write better now than you did when you first began to write novels? (I only ask because I think Im a much better writer than I used to be but no one else seems to have noticed.) Do you feel you can trust your inner critic or are you plagued by doubts the whole time you are writing?
LL: At the risk of sounding obsequious, I have to say that you set the bar awfully high for yourself with Behind the Scenes at the Museum, but Ive noticed how your work has changed, although I think the word that comes to mind isnt better, but bolder. You take such big risks and yet you manage them with aplomb. The frustration of being a fan of your work is that theres nothing quite like it. There are lots of wonderful writers in crime and literary fiction, but theres only person who can write a Kate Atkinson novel.
I didnt start out on the same level. Thats not poor-mouthing, as my Southern relatives would have it, but a fact on which everyone agrees. People tell me all the timereally, all the timehow far Ive come since my first book. But, whether one writes a great first novel or simply a decent one, what are the choices? One can get better, worse, or stay the same. I shoot for better and I accept that there may be some dips, but theyll come from trying new things at least, not doing the same things over and over. I do trust my inner critic, but I'm happy to have a circle of external critics that I trust as well.
KA: You honor the dead in your novels rather than exploit them for sadistic effect. Do you think thats due to your background as a reporter butting up against real lives rather than fictional ones? Or because youre a woman? Or just a decent human being?
LL: All of the above? At least, I hope Im a decent person. I do think crime writers need to take a moment for introspection about the stories were telling and the bodies that are piling up around us. Its somber stuff. There should be an agenda beyond sensation.
KA: How many novels do you have on the back burner at any one time? Have you ever sat down to write and not had any idea what you were going to do?
LL: Oncejust onceI managed to have two projects going on simultaneously, a novel and a novella. I do best with one thing in front of me. And, increasingly, I have no idea what Im going to write next. But thats part of the job and, for me, part of the fun. I know a book is finished when Im ready to sit down and ask myself, What next, what interests me right now? With The Most Dangerous Thing, I was interested in the way life becomes a kind of horror film at middle age. About two months after I started this book, my father-in-law died after a long decline. About the same time, one of my husbands oldest friends, dating back to his days on the college newspaper, had a stroke at the age of 48, and died within hours. Yesterday, I picked up The New York Times and happened on a first-person piece by a former colleague, who wrote about having ALS and his intention to commit suicide while he was still able-bodied. He's only 66.
But I also became a parent for the first time last year, which isnt one of the typical milestones of middle-age, yet there it was. And it had a huge impact on the book.
KA: Do you feel guilty when youre not writing, even when the other thing youre doing is totally fulfilling or completely altruistic or utterly well deserved?
LL: If Ive been disciplinedgone to my desk every weekday morning, written at least 1,000 wordsI seldom feel guilty. I feel much more guilt-ridden about not reading enough.
But I will steal a line from Anne Lamott, who once said if people knew how good she felt writing they would set her on fire. Just this morning I was working and it wasnt an on-fire moment, but it wasnt a bad day either. Just an average one, the kind of days one has in the dead middle of books. I took a sip of my latte, looked at the clock on my computer and thought: It is 10:10 a.m. and my job is to sit here and make things up. I am a very lucky person.
KA: I've never wanted people to feel good at the end of my novels, you said in a Publishers Weekly interview. But do you feel good when you finish?
LL: I feel fabulous. It's the best day of the year. But even on a book-a-year schedule, that means I feel fabulous only one day a year. As someone who takes great pride in completing things, Ive chosen an interesting little hell for myself.
Lippman delivers an emotionally complex drama that cements her reputation as one of the smartest crime writers around. People MagazineLippman has long excelled at believable psychological suspense. The GuardianOne of the most distinctive voices in contemporary fictionLippman has once more challenged, realigned and ultimately transcended the boundaries of genre. New York ObserverSucceeds brilliantlyLippman is in total command of her materiala mystery so taut the reader is nearly afraid to keep goingand simultaneously powerless to stop. People MagazineExquisite as fine jewellery. Lee ChildA corker engrossing. The ObserverWhat a knock-out she is. The Daily MailLippman is a writing powerhouse. USA TodayTruly a one-of-a-kind talent. Chicago Sun-Times
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