Emily Giffin's running a little late for our scheduled interview. With time to kill in the lobby of a lively Buckhead hotel, the people-watching is unparalleled, and the temptation to imagine narratives for the assorted characters is irresistible.
Those ladies of a certain age, tanned to the color and texture of footballs and stuffed like summer sausages into mini-sundresses that might have worked 15 years ago? A reunion of some coastal town's 1980s-era homecoming court. The guys in the corner with their pants so low their butts hang out? Must be underwear models (plaid is big this season). The fellow wearing a sports jersey with a dizzying combination of stripes and plaids? He must think that all looks good together, bless his heart.
This mental vacation feels like a fitting way to spend a few minutes before talking to the best-selling Atlanta author about her latest novel, "Where We Belong."
At a glance, its main characters are the types who'd seem easy to peg at first, too. Marian, the television producer who lives in a Manhattan penthouse and has a personal shopper at Barney's, is the embodiment of success and happiness. Conrad, the rocker dude who never went to college and spends his days in a Chicago bar, is a no-account loser. Kirby, the intellectual loner resisting her parents' pleas to attend college, is a typical Midwestern high school teenager who just needs to snap out of it. And their lives couldn't possibly intersect.
Right? Well, not so fast.
"I really have been intrigued by the power of secrets," Giffin said as our interview began. "If it's something from the past, can you leave it in the past? I believe for the most part that it doesn't work that way."
The narrative voice in "Where We Belong" hops around chapter by chapter, weaving the characters' tales together and giving them a chance to consider (or not) the impact of their choices on other people.
"I never write about characters who are all good or all bad," Giffin said. "They're good people who made unsympathetic decisions."
Sort of like real life.
"We all strive to be good mothers, good daughters, good people," Giffin said. "Ultimately we hope to get it right."
A breezy yet compelling read, "Where We Belong" was informed in parts by Giffin's friends in high places. Her television writer buddies and Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows helped her make sure the passages detailing the inner workings of television and rock music were authentic.
And as with "Something Borrowed," Giffin is in talks to adapt the book for film, although she couldn't spill many details and said it's too early to discuss possible talent.
"When I write a book, I don't let Hollywood come into my head," Giffin said. "I can't let that affect my creativity. While I'm writing, it is a book."
Will she follow up with Kirby, Marian and Conrad in a sequel? Maybe.
"My books aren't tied up in a bow," she said, "but these are characters I wouldn't mind spending another 18 months with."
About the Author
