Katy Farber is the author of the new novel The Board. Her other books include the middle grade novel The Order of the Trees. She is also an assistant professor of education at Saint Michael's College.
Q: What inspired you to write The Board, and how did you create your character Liv?
A: The spark for the book came from Brendan Deenen of Blackstone Publishing. He had the seed of an idea about a corrupt school board, and a narcissistic principal also acting as a superintendent. They were looking for a writer with K-12 teaching experience, and I fit the bill!
The book is inspired by many things: the rise of book banning and uncivil school board meetings across the country; the threats to teachers for working to teach true, hard histories of the United States and to protect the identities of all of their students; and the many ways women are made to feel small and undervalued in our society as many of our rights are stripped away.
I created Liv based on the idea that many women have had to face workplace harassment and discrimination and might not have done what they think they should have, and how this informs their future decisions and actions.
Q: The novel is set in a small town in New Hampshire--how important is setting to you in your writing?
A: New England, I hope, feels like a character in this book. I want the reader to feel steeped in place, and season, the end of fall and the beginning of what we call stick season (even before Noah Kahan’s song!). That sense of coziness and beauty at times, but also of foreboding and fear in the crunch of leaves and the starkness of the sky and trees.
The setting allows for the reader to imagine a place that is small town and beautiful, but also closed minded and insular. I think the story would be lost if it were not of this time and place in New England.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: No, I did not know the end before I started writing it. I had a sense of the final scene, in that I wanted it to connect to and rhyme with the opening one, but how to get there in between, I wasn’t clear.
I also worked with my editor to create a few more moments of the plot shifting in unexpected ways and had to circle back to plot points that emerged and make sure everything made sense and hung together.
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, “Farber nicely captures Liv’s mounting anxiety and makes her amateur investigation feel high-stakes. It’s a sharp exploration of parental unease.” What do you think of that description?
A: I love that description because it hits at what so many parents are feeling after the pandemic with the stark increase in anxiety rates of children. We went through a collective trauma, and our kids are still facing the consequences of that time.
Parents are constantly barraged with negative news, advice about what they should be doing, and how they are failing their kids. It is hard to be a parent, and to feel like you are “getting it right.”
I wanted to capture that feeling with Liv and her daughter Piper, who is highly sensitive, creative, and struggles with a very regimented and inflexible school environment.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m in the middle of my next thriller novel, the details of which will remain hush-hush, only to mention that it's told from four different women’s perspectives while on an ill-fated safari trip. I am looking forward to some cold and sleet and early sunsets to help me get this draft finished!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: There is a playlist for The Board made by my daughter, and it captures the essence of many aspects of the book. Give it a listen! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6lFhztnKG8yxPO46t8XjHh?si=f3ff41507ac7435e
--Interview with Deborah Kalb














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