Do you yourself collect trains? Do you belong to any online forums?
I’m not a train collector myself, although I think my dad might have had one or two at some point. Barter Books, the bookshop that Andrew and Peggy go to in the novel, is a real place, and it genuinely has a model train running along above the bookshelves. It’s a glorious place. I’m also a sucker for a long train journey. I’ve never been a member of an online forum but I used to “lurk”—the technical term, I believe—without posting myself on the odd one or two when I was younger. They were for the football team I support and various comedy shows I liked. Twitter seems to have somewhat taken their place these days, but I do absolutely love the fact forums still exist as a place for obsessives to congregate and chat about garden equipment or taxidermy, or whatever, without fear of judgment.
You also work as a nonfiction editor in the UK. What surprised you about writing and publishing your own book? What was different about working with fiction? Do you think your work as an editor shaped your role as an author? If so, how?
Although I work in nonfiction, I’ve been incredibly lucky to work in the same office as some immensely talented fiction editors, and I would often sit in editorial meetings trying to imagine one of them pitching my own book—which would be either an inspiring experience or a crushing one, depending on how well the previous evening’s writing had gone! It was only after working as an editor for a number of years that I seriously considered becoming a writer. Working on a daily basis with so many brilliant authors and colleagues, and reading so many different sorts of books, meant I was learning about writing almost without thinking about it.
Have you ever told a lie that took on a life of its own? What happened?
I’m a completely terrible liar, so luckily I’ve never ended up in a situation like Andrew’s. I do remember once having a spontaneous sick day at work (hope my boss isn’t reading this), and getting caught off guard when someone asked how I was feeling the next day. I panicked and began to improvise all these hellish symptoms, to the immense concern of my colleagues, who kept trying to insist I should be in hospital.
Much of this novel is about feeling lonely, or feeling like an outsider. Why did you decide to explore these themes? What do you hope readers will take away from Andrew’s story?
I’m not sure if it was a conscious decision to explore loneliness. That really came to the fore once I’d struck on the idea of Andrew, the job he does, and the lie he’s found himself trapped in. The more I wrote, the more I started to recognize that I had experienced loneliness myself too, and so that naturally began to feed into the story. Something that definitely informed the idea of feeling like an outsider was my experience of social media, and how to a certain extent we all use it to curate a life that, to the outside world, seems perfect. At times Andrew wants to have that life, which is why he finds it so hard to give up on his lie, and at times he finds the idea of it completely claustrophobic, that it’s somehow defeatist to conform to that ideal, and that’s something that seems to have resonated with people who’ve read the book. What I really hope that people take from Andrew’s story is that it’s never too late to change things, and that even those tiny moments when you step outside your comfort zone, or take a risk, or put yourself out there, can be hugely empowering.
Without giving anything away, did you always know how Andrew’s story would end?
I didn’t know exactly how Andrew’s story would end, but I definitely did know that I wanted the opening and closing scenes to be mirror images of each other, but with one big difference in the latter. Ultimately, I wanted it to be a hopeful story. I’m an unapologetic sentimentalist at heart.
What’s next for you?
Book two! Answering these questions has really helped me procrastinate, but I better get back to it . . .
— DISCUSSION GUIDE —
1. What did you think of Andrew when you first met him? Were you surprised by his white lie? Do you agree with his decision to keep up this false pretense?
2. Why does Andrew connect with Peggy so immediately? How is Peggy different than Andrew’s other colleagues? What do you think Peggy sees in Andrew?
3. Andrew is an unusual protagonist, and many of the things that happen to him are quite funny. What were your favorite moments in the novel?
4. Andrew’s been haunted by difficult relationships. How do these shape his character? How does his relationship with Sally change throughout the novel?
5. Were you surprised when you learned about Andrew’s past? How did Andrew’s last relationship change him?
6. Has there been a time in your life during which you told a lie that took on a life of its own? Did you eventually have to tell the truth? Do you wish you had handled things differently?
7. How does Peggy change Andrew? Discuss how his life is different at the end of the novel. Is Andrew himself different?
8. Andrew has some unusual hobbies. Do you have any hobbies of your own? What do you feel these bring to your life? If you could take on one hobby that you don’t currently have, what would it be?
9. How is loneliness explored throughout the novel? Is loneliness different for men than it is for women? How does loneliness affect Andrew?
10. Has loneliness played a role in your own life? Discuss. What did you do to try to connect with others? Do you know someone you feel is lonely? How does loneliness affect our society? Do you think this is different or changing in the age of social media?
11. Were you surprised by how the novel ended? Why or why not?
— ABOUT THE AUTHOR —
Richard Roper is a nonfiction editor at Headline in the UK, where he works with authors such as James Acaster, Joel Dommett, Andrew O'Neill, and Frank Turner. Something to Live For is inspired by an article he read about people whose job it is to follow up after people die alone. It is his debut novel.
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