Bookends with Mattea Roach

In Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel, Yesteryear, a modern day tradwife influencer shares her picturesque farm life with 8 million followers … until one day, she wakes up in the 1800s and has to do it all for real. No running water, no electricity and no way out. But is she really in the past? How far will she go to get back to her perfect life? And how perfect was that life, really? Yesteryear is a twisty, compelling look at what the tradwife trend tells us about fame, tradition and womanhood. This week, Caro joins Mattea Roach to talk about her surprising tradwife protagonist, performing femininity and the Anne Hathaway film adaptation in the works.

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Justice for Murder Bimbo!
What is a stag dance?

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Ben Lerner’s new novel is all about how technology shapes memory and connection … and it kicks off when a guy breaks his phone. In Transcription, a man is conducting one final interview with his 90-year-old mentor and celebrated academic, Thomas. When the narrator accidentally breaks his phone before the interview, he can’t bring himself to admit it to Thomas. He does the interview anyway, pretending that he’s recording. Ben uses this premise to explore how technology can both store and destroy memory, and how the changing role of devices is altering our relationships with one another. This week, Ben joins Mattea Roach to talk about interrogating art and fatherhood, staying human in a world of devices and if technology can really capture true connection.

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1 marriage, 2 mid-life crises … and a guy named Gluten
Nnedi Okorafor: Bringing a writer to life in Death of the Author

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Even if you’re living in a dystopia, life goes on. Carrianne Leung’s new novel, Wonderland Road, is about making it work and finding hope in a collapsing society. In a world where basic structures of society fall apart and a mega-corporation rules all, the people of a small suburban community must figure out how to move forward — even when they don’t quite know where “forward” leads. Much like Carrianne’s other work, Wonderland Road explores the tensions that live within families and communities, and though it takes place in the future, familiar divisions of power, class, race and gender are hiding in plain sight. This week, Carrianne tells Mattea Roach about finding hope in a dystopia, her love for Scarborough and why the original protagonist of the book was a raccoon.

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Writing about catastrophe gives Madeleine Thien courage
How long could you lie about who you are?

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In Michael Redhill’s new novel, The Trial of Katterfelto, the titular Katterfelto is a traveling magician and scientist in the late 1700s. One day, Katterfelto and his partner Roger come across a mysterious horn that emits a woman’s voice … and that voice calls herself Siri. Siri is from the future, and she tells the two of climate disaster, social unrest and AI takeover. As Katterfelto and Roger start using Siri for their magic show, they must learn how to decipher her messages … and figure out what she’s really warning them about. This week, Michael joins Mattea Roach to talk about his interest in magic, anxieties for the future and writing a different kind of ghost story.

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What if your dreams could land you in jail?
In a world run by AI, what makes us human?

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What does it mean to love a place that is so complicated? Pulitzer prize finalist Daniyal Mueenuddin’s new novel, This Is Where the Serpent Lives, dives into class, corruption and the systems of power that dictate life in Pakistan. Over six decades, it follows the lives of both the wealthy elite and those that serve them … and it takes readers all across the country, from its opulent cityscapes to rural farmlands. Although the book is fiction, many of its characters are inspired by real people Daniyal has known in Pakistan while living on his farm there. This week, Daniyal tells Mattea Roach about fictionalizing those people, his own relationship with Pakistan and how the country has changed.

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How far would you go for your family?
The beauty and despair of Appalachia

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