Elizabeth Strout

The authority that you bring to the page will mean more to the reader without them even knowing it than almost anything.

So I, I have many different concepts of authority, you know, running around in my head, but I did, I did think that at one of their debates, I realized, wow,

He has what people will feel is authority.

Yeah, exactly.

And I just kept writing it as it was taking place.

I mean, I did flash forward and those things actually came true.

Like there were protesters that were shot, not at the time that I was writing it because the book was done, but I did flash forward, you know, so I,

I knew that would happen.

Exactly.

And I hope it's not.

I mean, because it stops.

The book stops, you know, at a certain point.

I realised, okay, this is Artie's time in history has passed.

history has rolled over him, you know, even with the AI and the students and, you know, the new principal and just his time in history is done and so already had to be done.

Do you think this is the most political book you've written?

I think that The Burgess Boys was, you know, a pretty political book.

I mean, dealing with the Somalis having moved to the state of Maine and

But I think this is, again, I just keep going back to the time in history.

I mean, this is a very, very strange time in history.

And if I'm going to write a book that takes place in this time, then I, especially with a history teacher.