Q&A with J.R. Thornton

  

 

 

J.R. Thornton is the author of the new novel Lucien. He also has written the novel Beautiful Country. He lives in Milan. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lucien, and how did you create your characters Lucien and Chris/Atlas?

 

A: I was inspired to write Lucien by a long-standing fascination with imposters and self-inventors, and particularly by the real-life case of a Harvard student who fabricated nearly every part of his academic identity.

 

That story lingered with me and dovetailed with my interest in heists, art forgery, and the question of how much value we place on credentials and appearances.

 

From there, Lucien emerged as a charismatic but deeply complicated young man - someone who builds a dazzling persona to escape grief and loneliness, and whose brilliance and bravado gradually give way to something darker.

 

His character is a composite figure, roughly 60 percent drawn from several real people I’ve read about or encountered and 40 percent imagined. I wanted to create a character who was more complex than a straightforward sociopath who feels no remorse.

 

For the narrator, Chris, I needed someone particularly vulnerable to Lucien’s charm - an introverted, sensitive outsider longing for acceptance. He hasn’t attended elite schools or been exposed to Lucien’s world, or ever been a part of the cool crowd at school. He’s a complete outsider (his last name, “Novotny,” literally means “newcomer”).

 

All of this makes it easier for him to believe what Lucien tells him and to “buy the dream” he’s being sold.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between the two?

 

A: I think the dynamic between the two is fairly complicated because, on the one hand, they’re very close friends, but on the other, they’re both using each other - even if neither would admit it.

 

When Lucien learns about Atlas’s talent as a painter, he realizes Atlas can be useful to him in several ways, not least by providing a lucrative income stream through their forgery scheme. Atlas, meanwhile, quickly sees that Lucien is his key to social acceptance and entry into the in-crowd. In that sense, their relationship is both a genuine friendship and a transactional one.

 

Q: The writer Nick McDonnell said of the book, “Fine art, forgery, young friendship, and the perils of greed--Lucien is a closely observed and finely crafted campus thriller.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Love it! My goal with this novel was to write a book that straddled literary fiction and suspense-driven thrillers – and I think Nick’s description captures that spirit super well.

 

Nick is also someone I’ve looked up to since I read his novels Twelve and An Expensive Education when I was in high school. So to hear from him that he loved Lucien was a really cool feeling.

 

Q: What do you think the novel says about class?

A: I think the novel has a great deal to say about class, particularly how class and opportunity interact in today’s America.

 

We like to imagine our society as a meritocracy with a fluid class system and ample social mobility. That may still be true relative to other countries, even if it is far less true than it was perhaps 50 years ago.

 

At the heart of the novel, though, is a criticism of the value we place on the external trappings of class - someone’s name, wealth, origins, or academic credentials - and how this focus can cause us to overlook more important qualities, like moral character.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I have a few early-stage ideas for a sequel to Lucien, exploring what happens to him after he disappears at the end of this novel.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Lucien came out March 17 – available everywhere. For more updates and news on Lucien you can find me on Instagram (@jr.thornton) or on my website www.jrthornton.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb