For fans of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is a taut and utterly propulsive story about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town. Can anyone be trusted?
Read on to learn more as we chat with Stephen about his new release, along with writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Stephen! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I was born in suburban Chicago and raised in New Jersey and Maryland. After graduating from college, I moved to London, where I married a redhaired Cornish girl. Together, we had four children and threw lots of dinner parties. I wrote my first four novels while in the UK, as well as a number of film and TV scripts. I also worked as a film critic for the Financial Times and the Sunday Times (UK). I moved back to the US in 1999 and wrote my next seven books, two of which – Human Capital and Security – have been made into films. I am also the co-screenwriter of The Leisure Seeker, starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland. I am currently putting the finishing touches on my tenth novel. I divide my time between Massachusetts and Italy.
When did you first discover your love of writing?
I was twelve, maybe thirteen. My teacher had assigned us a short story. Mine concerned two men – haggard, exhausted, lonely, lost – wandering some blasted post-apocalyptic landscape. They have been walking for days. Unbeknownst to either, their paths take them right toward each other. On and on they walk, drawing closer and closer together. What will they say when they met? Will they be welcoming? Hostile? And then they finally come together… and simply pass each other by, without a word, without so much as a nod of acknowledgement. The story came quickly and naturally; the ending seemed to arrive out of nowhere. My teacher, family and classmates seemed impressed. I was hooked, addicted to storytelling. I’ve never given a thought to doing anything else since.
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 was Green Eggs and Ham. And I still have yet to read anything better.
- The book that made me want to become an author was The Grapes of Wrath. Stories could be both intimately human and vastly important.
- They book I cannot stop think about is As I Lay Dying. I have no idea how Faulkner pulled this off. It’s a magic trick I cannot figure out.
Your latest novel, Locust Lane, is out January 17th ! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Kids go bad, parents follow.
What can readers expect?
A murder in an affluent suburb that takes place while four kids party in a multi-million dollar house. Differing versions of what happened surface, setting four families at odds. The formerly sedate community soon becomes a battleground where social media, innuendo and money are the weapons. The people who control the narrative wind up dictating the truth. Guilt is eventually assigned, though perhaps to the wrong party.
Where did the inspiration for Locust Lane come from?
Growing up in a series of suburbs that were supposed to be placid and safe – and seeing that they were often anything but.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Absolutely. Two characters who started out as relatively minor wound up becoming the emotional pillars of the book. Patrick Noone, an alcoholic, grief-stricken banker, and Danielle Perry, the hard-bitten mother of the victim. They form an unlikely bond during the course of the story as both try to figure out the truth about what happened on Locust Lane. I wound up liking them so much that I even provided them with an unplanned interval of happiness together.
Do you have any advice for those who may have set some writing resolutions for the new year?
Be persistent. Show up every day with your game face on. Don’t let setbacks set you back. Believe it or not, failure can be your fuel, rejection the crucible of your talent. Nobody learns very much from being praised.
What’s next for you?
I am putting the finishing touches on my next novel, a mystery which is also set in the fictional suburb on Emerson. It’s a companion piece to Locust Lane, featuring the same lead detective.
Lastly, are there any 2023 releases our readers should look out for?
Two new books from writers a love: Dennis Lehane’s Small Mercies and Emma Donoghue’s Learned by Heart.
