Q&A with A.H. Kim

A.H. Kim is the author of the new novel A Good Family. She is a lawyer, and she lives in San Francisco.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the Min-Lindstrom family, and for your characters Hannah and Beth?

A: A Good Family was inspired by my real-life experience supporting my brother and his family when my sister-in-law self-surrendered at Alderson Women's Prison, but the story of the Min-Lindstrom family is pure fiction.

Growing up as an immigrant and person of color, I often felt like an outsider and imagined what it would be like to be white, beautiful, and rich.

A Good Family delves beneath the surface of a picture-perfect family, with Hannah reflecting the outsider's perspective and Beth having the seemingly perfect life.

Q: You tell the story from Hannah's and Beth's alternating perspectives--did you write the story in the order in which it appears, or did you focus more on one character before turning to the other?

A: The first draft of A Good Family was told in the third-person omniscient perspective, but after reading another writer's work in my monthly manuscript group, I was inspired to revise it into two alternating first-person POVs.

Gone Girl and Girl on the Train were both popular at the time, and I thought telling the story from Hannah's and Beth's perspectives would add suspense: how reliable are these narrators?

The early drafts also had more domestic scenes from Hannah's perspective, while the final book interjects more prison scenes and Beth's stories.

Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

A: The working title for the book was False Claims, which reflects both the False Claims Act (the whistleblower law) and the false appearances that each of the characters present to the world.

My publisher felt that False Claims sounded like a John Grisham legal thriller rather than a domestic family drama, so after considering many options, we settled upon A Good Family. I like the fact that the title makes the reader ponder the question: what does it mean to be a good family?

Q: As a writer and attorney, how do the two coexist for you?

A: I think that being an attorney is a natural fit for being a writer. As an attorney, I basically read, analyze words, and write for a living -- skills that are essential to being a writer. I'm also not daunted by the blank page.

The main challenge for me, however, is finding time outside of my day job to write books. I guess that's what weekends and vacations are for!

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I've already completed my next manuscript -- a modern re-telling of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility set in a Northern California cancer retreat center -- which is with my agent right now. I'm giving myself a little time off from writing so that I can promote A Good Family and while I'm waiting to hear back from my agent.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I hope readers know how much authors, especially debut authors, appreciate getting positive reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Even just a rating or a few words of appreciation mean so much to us, so if you could take the time to share your enthusiasm for a book, please do.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb