by Garth Stein
How much of Trevor’s fourteen-year-old self is based on your own experiences? Did you wish to be a writer when you were a teenager?
Keep in mind that questions like this imply that the writer has a certain level of self-reflection that he probably doesn’t have, or else he wouldn’t be writing books about fictional families with long histories. In other words, Trevor isn’t based on my experiences at all, but at the same time, he’s based entirely on my experiences. I like to think of my young self as inquisitive, clever, good with the timely retort, passionate, honest, and true. I was probably more brash and impulsive, and more annoying than funny. But, yes, I wanted to be a writer when I was a teenager.
Yet this is an important thing to remember: old Trevor is telling the story of young Trevor, and, as we are told in the preface, time and the retelling of stories distort those stories. So in the relating of Trevor’s summer, old Trevor has judiciously edited and crafted the story, no doubt changing some details and compressing some moments for dramatic purposes. Perhaps old Trevor deleted some of young Trevor’s brash and impulsive qualities in order to make young Trevor seem more clever and passionate; maybe old Trevor was able to provide young Trevor with retorts we always wish we could have delivered in the moment, if we had only had thought of them! In my mind, young Trevor spent days and weeks going through old journals for evidence of his family’s history. But in the retelling of the story—through old Trevor’s eyes—we skip all the superfluous stuff and cut to the good stuff; the embellishment of the storyteller is certainly felt.
What is your favorite book with a similar narrative structure to yours: an older person narrating his own childhood?
Two books that I really enjoyed reading—maybe so much that I looked to them for their guidance—are A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, and Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick. Both of these employ an adult character relating a story from his youth. In Owen Meany, it’s completely transparent and we are reminded of it throughout; in Wonderful, the structure is suggested in the beginning, but then plays out as a reveal in the end. I chose to straddle both worlds with subtle reminders that the story is being told by adult Trevor, while also allowing the narrative to indulge in young Trevor’s voice at times.
What do you think connects the novels you’ve written? Are there themes or topics you find yourself returning to?
My books all deal with families and characters faced with extreme circumstances. I believe when a person is pushed to his limits—or beyond those limits—his true character is revealed. So Jenna in Raven Stole the Moon, Evan in How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, Denny and Enzo in The Art of Racing in the Rain, and now Trevor and his family in A Sudden Light, all must dig deep to find their inner strength.
Other themes I like to explore are spirituality, redemption, faith, perseverance. I also like to play with magical realism to more or less of a degree. I firmly believe that novels are more powerful if they go beyond a simple representation of the world around us. I believe that novels should be constructed very carefully to provoke thought and emotion in the reader, so I hope that someone who reads one of my novels will ultimately look at the world a little differently.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Garth Stein is the author of three novels: Raven Stole the Moon, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, and the New York Times and international bestseller The Art of Racing in the Rain. He also conceived The Novel: Live!, a writing marathon to support literacy, which spawned the novel Hotel Angeline: A Novel in 36 Voices. Before turning to writing full-time, Garth worked variously as a documentary filmmaker, a playwright, a teacher, and as a stage manager on Theatre at Sea cruises for The Theatre Guild.
Garth is cofounder of Seattle7Writers, a nonprofit collective of sixty-five Pacific Northwest authors dedicated to fostering a passion for the written word and strengthening ties between readers, writers, librarians, and booksellers. He lives in Seattle with his family.
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ALSO BY GARTH STEIN
The Art of Racing in the Rain
How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets
Raven Stole the Moon
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Garth Stein
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First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition October 2014
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Interior design by Jill Putorti
Jacket design and illustration by Will Staehle
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stein, Garth.
A sudden light : a novel / Garth Stein.
pages cm
1. Family secrets—Fiction. 2. Domestic fiction. 3. Ghost stories. I. Title.
PS3569.T3655S83 2014
813’.54—dc23
2014006886
ISBN 978-1-4391-8703-6
ISBN 978-1-4391-8705-0 (ebook)
