Rufi Thorpe

Rufi Thorpe received her MFA from the University of Virginia in 2009. A native of California, she currently lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and son.

Thorpe's debut novel is The Girls From Corona del Mar.

From her Q & A at Author Stalker:

The book tracks Mia and Lorrie Ann’s friendship. As they grow up, they debate several issues that are exclusive to women, like motherhood, abortion, and exactly what/how much mothers owe their children. I think everyone should read The Girls from Corona del Mar because it’s freaking awesome, but in your opinion, why should men read your book?

What a great question! On the most basic level, I think that women are part of the human experience, and if women can fall in love with reading Moby Dick, there is no reason men can’t identify with the characters in Pride and Prejudice. But of course, I’m also not saying that my book is in the same category as Pride and Prejudice!

Before publication, I honestly didn’t know if men would find something worth reading in the book. One of the things that has surprised me has been an overwhelmingly positive and also surprisingly intense response from male readers. Each email from them begins with the phrase, “I wasn’t expecting to like this book,” or, “I was pretty sure I would hate this book,” or even, “I would never have picked up this book, but I went to high school with your husband,” and then they would go on to say they stayed up all night reading and couldn’t put it down. They seemed...[read on]

Visit Rufi Thorpe's website.

Writers Read: Rufi Thorpe.

The Page 69 Test: The Girls from Corona del Mar.

My Book, The Movie: The Girls from Corona del Mar.

--Marshal Zeringue