Rebecca Makkai never knows where her books are going to take her.
I wanted the worlds worst high school reunion, Makkai says.
But after a few weeks of writing, I realized there was going to be too much backstory.
And that turned into most of the book.
Its a thorny juxtaposition, intentionally so.
My job is to contract myself within a book, my job is to complicate things, Makkai says.
I have no patience for black-and-white thinking.
The gray area is something that the novel [format] does really well.
We read novels for the gray area.
For Makkai, debates around true-crime medias explosive popularity Is it exploitative or empowering?
Does it challenge power structures in society, or reinforce them?
were part of the appeal.
Theres really good stuff out there.
Theres really bad stuff out there.
And thats my job [to depict that] in the book.
The downside would be if people are looking for a really traditional murder mystery.
People arent just going to jump from Agatha Christie over here and get what they expect and be happy.
But you do research all kinds of stuff about what happens to drowned bodies and blood splatter.
Its not the healthiest kind of Googling, necessarily, but its important for the book.
What theories do people have?
In what way have they harassed suspects, people of interest who are not in prison?
I think people assume it more for women, and they assume it more for writers of color.
Its about a librarian who kidnaps a child.
To be clear, this is definitely not my real life or how I feel about anything!
I actuallydounderstand Im not the character!
I had that with my second novel: This character was clearly inspired by this poet.
I was like, I’ve never heard of him!
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
So I find it a little irritating when people are like, This book was clearly inspired bySerial.
No, it wasn’t.
But that’s one of many cases that has captured my interest.
There’s always going to be something [in the headlines] likeGabby Petito.
And that obviously is something that’s a topic of the book as well.
On her love of Zillow:
Im just really into houses, old houses especially.
We did not choose this apartment.
Its free, and its lovely.
And we have a place in the summer, a little cabin.
But then I find weird stuff too.
Sometimes I go looking for it.
If you just search, Whats a house in my price range in whatever city?
youre going to find normal stuff.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
This article was originally published onMarch 14, 2023
