Q&A with Rebecca Kauffman

 

 

 

Rebecca Kauffman is the author of the new novel I'll Come to You. Her other books include the novel Chorus. She lives in Virginia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write I’ll Come to You, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: I wrote this book swiftly on the heels of parting ways with a historical novel I'd been working on for years that was not good and not getting better. I was chasing a toddler and nursing a newborn at the time, so the concept of new life was close to me although no one in the book resembles people in my actual sphere.

 

In creating a cast, I often work in contrasts. The prickly mother-in-law arrives alongside the warm fuzzy; the cautious pessimist arrives with the brash and delusional egotist.

 

Q: The novel is told from various family members’ perspectives--did you plan the structure out before you started writing the book, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I have tried and failed enough times to write a novel from a single POV that I no longer approach a narrative with that vision. Instead, my primary interest and aspiration now is to celebrate the beauty and oddity and mystery of ordinary lives through a chorus of characters, in a series of discrete moments.

 

The main change from first to final draft of this novel was expansion, with the addition of a few “summer” vignettes.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book said, “Throughout, the characters are grasping at what they hold dear, fighting insecurities and jealousies that coexist with desperate love and hope. Kauffman sets a scene that ultimately allows for generosity and togetherness.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Love it! I am hopeless when it comes to describing my own work; it often takes years after writing a book for me to understand fully and fundamentally what it's about. So it's both gratifying and helpful to learn what it has meant to readers and reviewers in early days.

 

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

 

A: No one on the team (including myself) was thrilled with the first few titles I suggested. This one arrived months after the novel had sold, in the middle of the night, while I consoled my child. In the light of day, I had to check to see if this exact phrase even existed in the manuscript. What I discovered made me even more certain that it was the right title, and I was so happy when others agreed. 

 

To me it signifies - for lack of a more sophisticated answer - love.  

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on edits to a novel that takes place in a restaurant over the course of one day, when 22 steaks have gone missing and a celebrity guest is expected to dine. It is a mystery, a comedy, and an excavation of the interior lives of the many people who populate the restaurant.

 

I worked in restaurants for many years and drew on memories to explore the miseries, triumphs, hilarity, and camaraderie unique to the world of food service.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: While I have your ear, I'll offer a recommendation! No One Gets to Fall Apart by Sarah Labrie, published just a few weeks ago, is breathtakingly brave and beautiful and important.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Rebecca Kauffman.