Brett Ann Stanciu is the author of the new novel Call It Madness. Her other books include Unstitched. She lives in Hardwick, Vermont.
Q: What inspired you to write Call It Madness, and how did you create your character Avah?
A: Call It Madness originates from my second book, Unstitched, a nonfiction book about addiction in rural Vermont. While writing Unstitched, I interviewed a number of people, from medical workers to people in recovery.
I realized how profoundly it matters where you land in this life — the circumstances of your family and upbringing. I wanted to explore this more deeply in fiction.
So, Avah Lavoie is a 25-year-old woman who is forced to search for answers about her mother. In the novel, Avah discovers that her great-grandfather had a sawmill accident and lost the use of his hand. This injury caused him and his wife to lose their dairy farm.
The loss of the farm and land impoverished the family — and the consequences of this affected Avah, many years later.
Q: As you noted, the novel takes place in Vermont--how important is setting to you in your writing?
A: Rural Vermont is great novel material. My tiny fictive Goldbrook Village is filled with unique characters who understand pieces and parts of Avah's history. The village is so small that people know a great deal about each other.
Yet, at the same time, people sometimes keep their secrets well-hidden, so when Avah searches for the truth about her family, she discovers partial truths and rumors. She’s forced to look hard for what facts she can find.
Beyond this, Vermont's harsh winter shapes my characters. To live here requires a degree of fortitude. At the same time, Vermont is enchantingly beautiful in all seasons. The complexity of this setting reverberates all through Call It Madness.
Q: The author Jeffrey Lent said of the book, “At turns caustic and darkly comic, Call It Madness never loses sight of the decay within the veneers of social respectability, and how slender the chasm is between hope and despair.” What do you think of that description?
A: The talented Jeffrey Lent put his words right at the heart of this book.
Avah Lavoie is part of a class of people often overlooked. Lacking education and middle-class status, Avah’s mother scrambled to pay bills, often moving to avoid rent, switching jobs in a desperate and ill-conceived plan to move into solidity.
At the same time, as a young woman, Avah is imbued with hope that her life might transform into some portion of happiness.
In my kitchen, I have the famous Dorothea Lange photo of a migrant mother — an image I actually pulled from a daycare dumpster. The photo reminds me every day of who I write for: overlooked and often forgotten people who hold their own dignity.
Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: The title is from the poet David Budbill's collection Judevine. Budbill was a marvelous Vermont poet who generously mentored me. The title signifies the movement of human generations, how we persist in our own human craziness. In my novel, this centers on the Lavoie family.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: With much enthusiasm, I am writing a novel about converting a dilapidated town hall in rural Vermont to a housing project — and the fervor this creates in the town. I was fortunate to receive a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant to give me some writing (and breathing) time.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Call It Madness reflects the complexity of our times — division of class in rural America. Within this setting, Avah Lavoie searches to comprehend her mother’s chaotic and deceptive life. To understand herself and her mother, Avah must also begin to understand the village and villagers. Thank you!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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