Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel?
Christina Baker Kline: Inspiration is mysterious. I read an article in the New York Times some years ago about British convict women and children exiled to Australia in the 1800s, and was fascinated. But why was I fascinated? Not until I’d finished writing The Exiles did I realize that several strands of my own life experience had led me to this story.
When I was in my twenties I read Robert Hughes’ masterful nonfiction account of Australia’s early years, The Fatal Shore. This inspired me to apply for a six-week fellowship to Australia. Soon thereafter, I wrote a book on feminism with my mother, which taught me some interesting lessons about the power of women telling the truth about their lives. I also taught memoir writing in a women’s prison and learned a great deal about the psychology of incarceration. My interest in, and knowledge of, Australia, women’s issues, and the criminal justice system ultimately inspired this novel.
What character in this novel do you most relate to and why?
I relate to each character in different ways, but I think of Evangeline as a stand-in for the reader. She is thrust from a comfortable middle-class life into an entirely different world of dank prison cells and a cramped berth on a convict ship. The shock that Evangeline expresses while adjusting to her new life is akin to what I felt while researching this book — and what I’d imagine many readers feel as they enter The Exiles.
Why do you feel novels with powerful and unique characters are so popular and have such a voice right now?
Reading a novel is a way to experience the world through someone else’s eyes. I think people today are interested in learning about facets of the past that have been left out of the history books — the stories of women, people of color, and the poor, to be specific. In The Exiles, readers inhabit the lives of female convicts exiled to Australia for committing mostly petty (and even trumped-up) crimes, and get to experience their trepidation, desires, and hopes. They also learn about the real-life story of an Aboriginal girl who was taken from her people by a wealthy British couple as a kind of social experiment. The characters in The Exiles are powerless in some ways and powerful in others, but what unites them all is the human need and desire to make connections and build a community, even in an exiled or incarcerated life.
Please describe the content of your latest read and what can readers expect from it.
In broad strokes, The Exiles is the story of the convict women who transformed Australia and the Aboriginal people whose way of life was destroyed when colonists landed on their shores. It’s an epic story, but it’s also incredibly intimate because you see it unfold through the eyes of three characters, two British convicts and an Aboriginal girl.
What’s next for you in the bookish world?
When I finished writing each of my last three books — Orphan Train, A Piece of the World, and The Exiles — I told myself I’d return to contemporary fiction. But I keep stumbling on stories from the past that I can’t ignore. My next novel is drawn from my own family history and takes place in Civil War-era North Carolina.
Who is your current favorite writer? Why?
This spring I re-read most of E. M. Forster and was overwhelmed by the fluid beauty of his writing as well as his powerful insights about human nature. Howards End is magic!
Any writing advice for aspiring writers?
Ernest Hemingway said “Write drunk, edit sober.” I’m not sure whether he meant that literally or figuratively, but he had a point. The first draft is all about inspiration. If you’re too careful, too precise, your phantom editor will never stop looking over your shoulder. Then — revise, revise, revise.
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