Author One-on-One: Wiley Cash and Adriana Trigiani
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Adriana TrigianiWiley Cash
Bestselling author Adriana Trigiani's most recent books include
the novels The Shoemaker's Wife and Brava, Valentine She lives
with her husband and daughter in Greenwich Village.
Adriana Trigiani: First and foremost I’d like to congratulate
you on the success of your debut novel, A Land More Kind Than
Home. As a writer, I know that inspiration can come from many
different places— a quote, a childhood experience, the sky is the
limit. What inspired you to write this novel?
Wiley Cash: Thanks, Adriana. I’d like to congratulate you on the
success of The Shoemaker’s Wife. The inspiration for this novel
kind of found me. In the fall of 2003 I left North Carolina and
moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, to attend graduate school. One
night, in a class on African-American literature, my professor
brought in a news story about a young African-American boy with
autism who was smothered in a healing service on the south side
of Chicago. I found the story incredibly tragic, but I was also
interested in a community of believers that would literally
believe something to death. I felt compelled to tell this boy’s
story and the story of the community surrounding him.
AT:Truth be told, I’m a big fan of the ’80s—big hair, some of
the best music of all time—what’s not to like! Why did you choose
to set your novel during this era? Do you see this particular
time period as having an important resonance for contemporary
America?
WC: The easiest answer is that Jess Hall, one of my three
narrators, is nine years old in 1986. I was nine in 1986, and it
was easy for me to remember how I viewed the world as a nine year
old. But I soon realized that the ’80s were a very complicated
decade, and I have clear memories of trying to make sense of a
lot of the things that I was seeing and hearing at church, at
school, and at home.
When I sat down to write A Land More Kind Than Home I recalled
how things seemed in the church and in the community when I was a
kid, and I balanced that seeming against the reality of being.
This conflict between seeming and being—not just in churches but
in families as well—is what drives much of the novel.
AT: One of the things I love most about this novel is that it’s
told from very different perspectives—from a young boy to a woman
in her eighties to a middle-aged sheriff. As readers can see from
your author photo you don’t fit any of these criteria. Did you
find it difficult to write from such different viewpoints?
WC: At first it was difficult to imagine the role each of these
narrators would play in the novel. As I grew to know these
characters better, I realized that each possessed a particular
knowledge about the tragedy involving the young boy, and I
understood that each of them viewed it from a very different
perspective. This story belongs to the community, and I had to
let the community tell it.
AT: I’m a huge fan of book clubs. In my mind, there’s nothing
better than getting together to discuss your favorite book over a
glass of wine. Are there any particular themes that book clubs
might enjoy exploring in your book?
WC: I think book clubs are wonderful too, and there are a lot of
issues in A Land More Kind Than Home for book clubs to discuss:
the power of faith, community responsibility, family secrets,
marriage and infidelity. A lot of book clubs have wanted to talk
about the role of the boys’ mother in the novel: Was she a good
mother who believed her son could be healed, or was she a bad
mother who invited tragedy upon her family?