Claire Nicholls

And in fact, everybody in Whistler and Patchett is delightful.

I love that.

I love Daphne's sister.

I love Daphne's husband.

I love Daphne's nephew.

I would happily spend time with any of them.

And this is something of a trademark for you.

I was wondering, Anne, how much you believe in the inherent goodness of people.

It makes perfect sense to me, but I am a similarly optimistic person, Anne, and maybe this is why I love your novels so much, but it's almost like these novels that insist that, no, this person is a good person.

It's almost radical in a way.

It sounds like a wonderful way to live and probably something we can all learn from.

You have mentioned that you own the Parnassus Bookshop there in Nashville, and I can never let you go, Anne, without a book recommendation or two.

Is there something you have loved that you've read lately that you want to tell us about?

I loved Shuggie Bain.

I think I loved his next one, Young Mungo, even more, but I found it incredibly wrenching and difficult to read.

Is there that same difficulty with John of John?

Music Against the Night.

It sounds incredible.

When you read a book that good and you go, this is the book I've read, how does that make you feel as a novelist?

You go, oh, I wish it was mine?