We chat with author Lauryn Chamberlain about Who We Are Now, which is a story of Sliding Doors moments, those seemingly small choices of early adulthood that determine the course of our lives.
Hi, Lauryn! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I’m a writer currently based in Toronto. I grew up in Michigan, studied journalism and French at Northwestern University, and then moved to New York, where I worked for most of my twenties in various writing and writing-adjacent roles. Novels are my true passion: Who We Are Now is my second, and I’m so excited to have it out in the world.
That’s my “official” bio, anyway. My Instagram tagline is “author, martini enthusiast, and displaced New Yorker” — which, yep, is pretty spot on.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Early. When I was about seven years old I think I told my parents that I was writing “the Great American Novel” in my school composition notebook. (It was about ponies — very serious stuff.)
My parents were both avid readers, and they definitely encouraged me to read and write from a very early age. I know they read to me from the time I was a baby until I learned to read myself, around age four or five.
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!
I don’t know if I remember a first book; it’s hard to parse out what I read on my own and what was read to me. I know the Boxcar Children series was an early favorite. I can also remember reading The Story of My Life — Helen Keller’s autobiography – very early on.
The book that made me certain I wanted to be a writer — as in, as a career – is As I Lay Dying. I read it in high school, and I’ve reread it many times since. I know people tend to have very strong opinions on stream-of-consciousness narratives (and on Faulkner in particular), but that one just really works for me. It still knocks me out.
In terms of books I can’t stop thinking about… there are three books in the “changed my life” category, and those are: Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman; The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer; and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. The most recent read that I find myself thinking about often is The Guest by Emma Cline. It gave me more to chew on than I realized on a first reading, I think.
Your latest novel, Who We Are Now, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Oh, this is tough! I’ve thought about it for my characters, but never for the novel itself. Let’s go with: nostalgic, contemplative, poignant, hopeful, and (ideally!) relatable.
What can readers expect?
A heartfelt, multi-POV story of friendship over time — and a meditation on the ongoing process of “coming of age” in our twenties and thirties. I’ve described this story (ineloquently) as being about discovering “how to be a person,” and I do think that’s accurate. Anyone who enjoys stories about friendship, shifting identity, and reconciling our youthful dreams with our adult realities will – hopefully – relate.
The full blurb: It is 2006 and Rachel, Clarissa, Dev, and Nate are best friends, seniors on the eve of their college graduation. Their whole lives are before them, at once full of promise and anxiety. Bound to one another as they are, they imagine their closeness will last forever—but things change as they take their first steps away from one another and into adulthood.
Each year is told from one character’s point of view, and in that way, we stride swiftly through their lives. These four friends feel their twenties and thirties flying by, and suddenly small moments fast become regrets or unexpected boons, decisions they’ll spend years wishing they could undo, and choices that come to define them. As the foursome endure professional setbacks, deep loss, and creative success, fortunes shift and friendships strain—and it will take a tragic turn of events to bring them together again.
Where did the inspiration for Who We Are Now come from?
Like everything I write, there were a few different kernels of inspiration that fused together over time and became one book.
First, I remember the eve of my graduation from college, and I’ve long thought about what I — and my friends — expected from our future adult lives at that time. I thought it would be interesting to explore the tension between our youthful ambitions and our adult compromises in a novel.
Second, I talk a lot about my love and admiration for Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings. I don’t think the books are alike — and who could survive a direct comparison to Meg Wolitzer, anyway? — but I am intrigued by similar themes. I wanted to write something that looks at how success affects friendships over the years but with a backdrop of evolving cultural attitudes toward sexuality, social media, and more through the aughts — basically, the societal backdrop to the older Millennial experience over the past two decades.
Finally, I just love a good story of friendship. The four protagonists of Who We Are Now — Rachel, Dev, Nate, and Clarissa — appeared to me very early, and very clearly. I just had to figure out what was going to happen to them in the story.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing all of my characters, honestly. It was my first time writing in third-person, multi-POV, and it was so enjoyable — and so challenging! — to get inside the heads of such different characters. There’s a small piece of me in each of them, of course, but for the most part, they’re all more different from me than they are similar.
I won’t give any spoilers here, but two scenes I really enjoyed writing: the ski trip, where a secret comes to light and bonds are tested, and the snow day scene between Dev and Rachel.
What’s next for you?
Moving back to New York, and writing more books! I can’t say much at the moment, but I am at work on drafting my third novel. One hint: wine world.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
So many, but I’ll try to keep it short!
I just finished The Freedom Clause by Hannah Sloane and really enjoyed it, so I’d recommend that. And, of course, one more time: if you’ve never read The Interestings, go drop whatever you’re doing and do so now.
