James Chesterton is the author of the new novel Ashes of the Republic. He also has written the novel Holding Patterns. He worked in the banking industry for 30 years, and he lives in New England.
Q: What inspired you to write Ashes of the Republic, and how did you create your characters Lily and Jeff?
A: In 2016, many voters believed no single person could meaningfully undermine our government—that the system was strong.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 was the first clear example of a deliberate, gradual weakening of our democracy. Around that time, my daughter was in her sophomore year of college, and I found myself wondering what America would look like if we continued down this path.
When I visited her, she was surrounded by smart, thoughtful friends. Lily is a composite of their strongest traits. She and Jeff are both in their 40s in this world, and their inability to build stable lives reflects what I see as one of the greatest risks facing this generation. The characters grew directly out of those fears.
Q: Why did you choose to set the novel in 2046?
A: It was important that readers feel connected to the setting—that it not feel alien. It’s essentially today’s world, just turned up to 11. There are obvious advances in AI and robotics and their impact on society and the economy, but the goal was plausibility.
Twenty years out felt like the furthest I could go without losing that sense of realism while still demonstrating some believable tech, such as bee-like robots used by the government to control dissenters.
.jpg)
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: The original title was The World on Her Shoulders, a nod to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. I was advised the reference wouldn’t land, so the marketing team suggested Ashes. It’s a stronger fit—both metaphorically and in its connection to key events in the story.
Q: The Kirkus Review of the book called it a “sharp, timely examination of power, corruption, and control in a world lulled into complacency.” What do you think of that description?
A: Unfortunately, it’s accurate. You can’t read the news today without seeing another example. When I wrote the first draft in 2023, I worried I was going too far. There’s an argument now that I didn’t go far enough—but I think it lands about right.
The imagery of him as Jesus, for example, was in the original draft and is in the finished novel. I wish I’d been wrong. But if this reflects our current trajectory, the real question is: how much worse can it get if we continue down this path? At its core, the novel is about the corruption of power at every level of society.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m plotting Book Two. I have strong support from my editor and a range of ideas—it’s now a matter of deciding which direction best fits, especially given how quickly events are evolving. Or devolving.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I recently listened to a podcast discussing the 1980s TV film The Day After, which depicted a nuclear attack on the United States. While people intellectually understood the threat, seeing it dramatized had a profound impact—and even influenced the tone of Reagan’s presidency.
That’s been my premise from the beginning: some realities need to be seen to be understood. What’s happening today will matter—but even more so for our children. The question is how much harder are we going to make it for them as we hand off a broken planet and a fractured government?
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
No comments:
Post a Comment