There are many different types of instruments that are used for making various items of wood, steel, and other such materials. One of the most important of these is that of saws and the chain saws. These saws are used to cut through different materials…

1) In this novel, Lillian is a heroine who defies traditional gender stereotypes. In literary studies, much has been made of female protagonist’s stories as following a circumscribed inner/emotional territory due to the restrictions of family and the home. Lillian, however, sets forth from Russia to NYC, to the West and the Telegraph Trail to Siberia, a female completely set loose in the “external landscape” of men. Did you consciously decide to craft a character who would defy the norms? Would you consider Lillian to be a feminist character specifically or simply a survivor in more general terms?

2) Throughout the novel, the roving point-of-view allows readers to wander through time and place with the characters, revealing unusual insights into their futures. We know of what befalls Reuben and Meyer after Lillian leaves the city, how Gumdrop’s later life takes its shape, where Chinky ends up after prison, and even with Lillian and John. This fascinated me–how fluid the perspective was. Did you ever consider writing this novel in the first person? Why or why not? Could it have worked as well?

3) References to classical mythology are woven throughout this book, particularly concerning the story of Proserpine lost in the underworld and her mother, Ceres, seeking desperately to find her with mixed success. In fact, in Away, when John asks Lillian, “What’s your story?” it is this tale she immediately thinks of. Is Lillian a mythic character to you? How important were these classical stories in the process of telling of Lillian’s life and experiences?

Thank you, once again, for considering these questions!
Best wishes,
Delia

2) What problems or issues did you face while writing Away? Did the story sort of unfold organically as Lillian’s journey unfolded, or did it evolve in some other manner?

3) How much historical research was involved in the writing of this book?

2. We spend a short amount of time with all the different characters in Lillian’s life from Reuben to Gumdrop to Chinky and finally John Bishop. Yet you create such complex, deeply felt personalities I wonder how much research goes into each characters? What is your process, how do you make these people real in such a brief amount of time?

3. Why did you end Lillian’s journey with John Bishop? I wanted her to keep going, why didn’t you want her to make the crossing to Siberia? Did Lillian fail, did she give up, or did she simply change what she was looking for?