From Ethan Joella, the author of A Little Hope, comes A Quiet Life, an enormously powerful and life-affirming novel about three individuals whose lives intersect in unforeseen ways.
Hi, Ethan! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you so much for interviewing me—I’m a big fan. As a quick introduction, I’m a dad, a writer, and a college professor (I teach English and psychology). I live with my family in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, my favorite place in the world. I have been writing for many, many years, so finally getting my books published by Scribner has been a dream come true . My first novel, A Little Hope, came out last November. It was a Read with Jenna Bonus Pick, and I’m excited to have my second novel, A Quiet Life, coming out now.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I remember writing (and illustrating!) a poem when I was seven years old called “Spring,” and I can still recite most of it. My cousin was a teacher, and she Xeroxed a big stack for me, which I distributed to relatives. My Aunt Stella, who was in her eighties, took such an interest in my writing. She asked the local newspapers to publish my work. I also tried to write a script for Growing Pains a few years later (I never heard back) and kept writing stories and poems whenever I could.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I remember reading on my own was Beverly Cleary’s Socks. I remember just poring over it and feeling so grown-up that it was mine. Anne Tyler’s The Accidental Tourist made me want to become an author—it’s a perfect study on character, grief, and plot. A book I can’t stop thinking about is Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward.
Your latest novel, A Quiet Life, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Carrying on without loved ones.
What can readers expect?
A Quiet Life is a perfect winter read because it’s cozy and life-affirming. It has that hygge quality we all crave. It’s the story of three people: Chuck, a widower who misses his free-spirited wife Cat and the annual trip they’d take to Hilton Head to escape the cold; Ella, a bridal sales consultant and newspaper carrier, whose daughter Riley has gone missing; and Kirsten, a young woman who works at an animal shelter and has lost her way after the death of her father. Unexpected circumstances bring the three of them together, and they each try to help one another as best they can.
Where did the inspiration for A Quiet Life come from?
I started writing this book because one day, while out for a walk, I heard a man tell his friends he was taking his first winter trip to Florida without his wife. It got me thinking about the ways we carry on when we lose people we love. Northeastern Pennsylvania, where I grew up, seemed to be the perfect backdrop for the book because of the long, cold winters, and the sense of community in the different cities and towns.
Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
This book was such a lesson for me. When you write one book, and it gets published, you start to convince yourself it might have been a fluke. Revision is so challenging for me, and when I finished the first draft of A Quiet Life, I didn’t feel like it quite worked the way I wanted it to. Some of it felt forced and unnatural. A Little Hope, my first novel, needed revision too, but it was smaller: another chapter added for character development, or some trimming. A Quiet Life had to be ripped apart and stiched back together with the ending completely rewritten. I knew all the work I had to do, but it was overwhelming, so I let it sit for about six months and worked on some new writing. Finally, in fall 2020 during Covid, I forced myself to sit in the dining room a couple hours a day and take it one section at a time, making sure that each piece was completely working. Most of the book takes place over just a few days, so I had to be so exact with the arc, keeping the various characters’ timelines aligned. I had a lot of charts and notes. It took a long time, but finally, I got it to a point where I was ready to show my agent. I think I really grew as a writer from this book because I learned a lot about revision.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I really liked Chuck’s neighbor and friend, Sal. He is so typical of the old men who lived in my neighborhood growing up, gruff and nosy and no-nonsense, so I feel some nostalgia for him. He has a kind heart and makes it his mission to look after Chuck even though he often gets on Chuck’s nerves. I also liked Kirsten’s love interests because I’ve never really written a love triangle before, and as someone not in my twenties, it was interesting to explore the feelings she was having as she weighed her options. I truly wasn’t sure who, if anyone, she would end up with, so that mystery was fun.
What’s next for you?
I’m so excited that I have a new book, The Same Bright Stars, coming out from Scribner in Summer 2024. It takes place in Southern Delaware and is about a man who has run his family’s beachfront restaurant on his own since the death of his father. He has had very little time for a social life or hobbies because the restaurant monopolizes all his waking hours, so when he gets an impressive offer to sell to a corporation, he wonders if this is his chance to finally start living.
Lastly, what have been some of your favourite 2022 reads? Any 2023 releases our readers should look out for?
My favorites for 2022 were Ocean State by Stewart O’Nan, Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, The Shore by Katie Runde, Wahala by Nikki May, and Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black. For 2023, The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane is absolutely stunning; also, I Could Live Here Forever by Hanna Halperin knocked me over.
