Q&A with Michelle Brafman

  

Photo by Sam Kittner

 

Michelle Brafman is the author of the new novel Draw Near to Me. Her other books include the novel Swimming with Ghosts. She teaches fiction writing in the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program.  

 

Q: Why did you decide to write a stand-alone companion to your novel Swimming with Ghosts, and why did you choose to set it in 2014, two years after the first book was set?

 

A: I had the good fortune of visiting quite a few book groups for Swimming with Ghosts, and I was surprised by how many readers wanted to know what happened after the final scene of the novel. I realized that I wasn’t finished with my peeps, so I started to writing about the days, weeks, and months following Swimming with Ghosts.

 

When I arrived at 2014, I realized that enough time had passed for these characters to establish a “new normal,” the perfect moment to give them more trouble!

 

Q: The writer Melinda Henneberger said that Draw Near to Me “delivers so much more than an update on the unwise and unwell characters Brafman has made us care about. It shows how grace is a choice that can begin to heal even the deepest betrayals.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Melinda’s words touched me deeply. My characters indeed behave badly, so it’s good to know that they are still viewed sympathetically. That’s the sweet spot for a writer.

 

The novel also poses the question: what does it take to draw someone near in the very moment you have every right to push them away? It takes a whole lot of grace to even ponder that question.

 

Q: As with Swimming with Ghosts, addiction plays a big role in the story. How do you see it affecting your characters?

 

A: I’ve heard addiction referred to as a family disease, one that can ripple through generations, cropping up when the emotional waters run high.

 

In both novels, several descendants of Sebastian Norton, the alcoholic patriarch, confront a tremendous amount of upheaval, and despite years of recovery, they struggle to stay sober. If they succumb to their addiction, they stand to lose the relationships that matter to them the most.

 

Q: Do you think readers need to have read Swimming with Ghosts before reading Draw Near to Me?

 

A: I don’t. I wanted Draw Near to Me to stand on its own, so I specifically recruited beta readers and editors who had not read Swimming with Ghosts. Their feedback pointed me to spots where I was giving too little or too much back story.

 

I also carefully reread Elizabeth Strout’s Amgash gems with two friends, one a novelist and one a book reviewer, which was incredibly instructive.

 

And I’m a sucker for interconnected short stories, so I revisited some of my favorite authors who link their narratives expertly: Amy Bloom, Robert Olen Butler, Alice Mattison, Rachel Hall, and Leslie Pietryzk, to name a few.    

 

Q: What are you working on now? Will you return to these characters?

 

A: I am working on the third installation of “The Swan Dive Series,” a title that arose from the recurring image of the aforementioned alcoholic patriarch swan diving.

 

I keep circling back to Toni Morrison’s epigraph in Swimming with Ghosts, “If you could surrender to the air, you could ride it.” That’s what I want for all the people I love, real and imagined, the ability to transcend our most painful legacies. To soar.    

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I don’t think so. As always, you asked the most important questions.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Michelle Brafman.