In which I am asked questions by the brilliant Caroline Leavitt

A few days ago, Caroline Leavitt, the extraordinary, award-winning novelist, hilarious Facebook chronicler, and truly generous soul asked me questions inspired by her reading of Dangerous Neighbors.  I had to clear the grateful tears from my eyes before I answered.  Please visit Caroline's site (where many authors are featured; you should be visiting anyway) for the conversation in which I answered, among other things, stunning questions like this one:

The novel meditates on what it means to have “dangerous neighbors” or to feel lost in a new country (or new way of being) where everything is so rapidly changing. There is also the sense that Katherine wants ownership of her sister in terms of loving her. She wants to keep that world small, even as the world around her--and her sister's world--are expanding. In the end, despite the losses in the book, Katherine actually finds surprising connection and hope. (There’s a spectacular few scenes of her carrying a stranger’s baby all over the Centennial.) Even though this novel is set in 1876, the whole idea of dangerous neighbors is remarkably current to me. Would you agree or is this simply my own interpretation speaking?

And please read here, for my thoughts about Caroline's upcoming novel, Pictures of You.