BEST AUTHOR BEST : ELINOR LIPMAN

 

I want to get my characters out of the house, to do more than just talk over dinner,'' she says.

In '' Every Tom, Dick & Harry,'' her 16th novel, a reluctant estate-sale businesswoman clears out a house - of ill repute.

.-  What's the last great book you read?

'' The Silence of Your Name : The Afterlife of a Suicide,'' by Alexandra Marshall.

.-  What books are you embarrassed not to have read Yet?

William Faulkner's Not that I didn't try.

.-  What's your favorite book no one else has heard of ?

'' Never heard of '' is harsh, but I do worry that '' The Wright Sister, '' by Patty Dann, went unanointed. I love epistolary novels, and this '' marriage diary '' is wonderful :

Based on real life, the Wright brothers' only sister, Katherine marries for the first time at 52. Surviving bachelor brother Orville never speaks to her again

.-  Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine?

Jane Eyre for sure. And more recently, Count Alexander Rostov in '' A Gentleman in Moscow,''  by Amor Towles.

Also, the many good coppers in Peter Grainger's DC Smith Investigation novels.

.-  How have your reading tastes changed over time ?

I read many more memoirs and biographies. As for fiction, I am less tolerant of grandiosity, impatient with descriptions trying to be poetic - the ancy weather that opens chapters, the cerulean skies, the irrelevant passing scenery. No thank you.

A relatively new experience : I always have an audiobook going.

.-  Are you an estate-sale shopper? What gems have you turned up?

I am. This is more about provenance than the objects, but I now own Beverly Sills's electric-teakettle and egg slicer.

.-  Might the Trump administration return as a backdrop to your writing, as it did in 2021's '' Rachel to the Rescue ''? 

Not if my agent and editor have a say.

.-  With so many novels under your belt, are there new goals you hope to accomplish when you start a new book?

I want to get my characters out of the house, to do more than just talk over dinner. I need to push myself to insert action and description, and I'm always mindful of one editor's margin note in '' Isabel's Bed '' ; '' Could someone here please pass the potatoes?''

The Publishing continues to Part [ 2 ].

The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.