Barbara Graham

Barbara Graham is the author of the New York Times bestseller Eye of My Heart, the national bestseller Women Who Run with the Poodles, and Camp Paradox, a memoir. Graham has written for many publications, including O, National Geographic Traveler, Time, and Vogue. Her plays have been produced Off-Broadway in New York, and at theatres around the county.

Graham's new novel is What Jonah Knew.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I hope the title of my psychological thriller, What Jonah Knew, intrigues readers and makes them want to find out exactly what it is that Jonah knew. The reveal drives the novel’s narrative.

What's in a name?

Jonah’s name is important. When Jonah is born, his dad, Matt, asks Lucie, the baby’s mom, “You really want to name him after the guy in the Old Testament who gets eaten by a whale?” Lucie replies: “Yes, because he gets tossed back up on land three days later, unhurt. So actually it’s a hero’s story.” Lucie believes the name will confer extra resilience on their son. Which, as it turns out, he’ll need in spades.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think my teenage reader self would be pleased and not all that surprised, since the seeds of the novel were planted back then. I loved books with magical or mystical elements. One was Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Another was One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And when I was a bit younger, I devoured every Nancy Drew ever published. Mysticism plus magic realism plus mystery—and you have a sense of What Jonah Knew.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

From the moment I conceived the idea for the novel, I knew where it was headed. The challenge for me was figuring out how to get there. I wrote and rewrote the beginning many times. Even after I was sure I’d finally gotten it right, a writer friend suggested that I try flipping the first two chapters. Which I did—reluctantly—and it made all the difference by bringing the reader into the heart of the story right away. Sometimes when you get overly attached to a particular approach, you can’t see what might be obvious to a wise, trusted reader or editor.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Though the story of What Jonah Knew is in no way my story, the characters certainly draw on my life experience. Lucie, Jonah’s mom, tends to be anxious and overprotective, something that as the mother of a son I know quite a bit about. Other characters in the book draw on some of the qualities and histories of various friends and family members. I think it’s impossible for that not to happen. Writers are often told to “write what you know.” In fiction, downloading from one’s own life to enrich one’s characters is inevitable and happens organically, even when the story you’re telling is entirely invented.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Many years of studying and practicing Buddhist meditation have profoundly influenced my view of the world, as well as my writing. As an essayist and journalist, my understanding of the core principles of Buddhist teachings have influenced how I’ve seen and written about all sorts of things. In What Jonah Knew, the spiritual influence is pretty overt in both the narrative and a few of the characters. There’s even a Tibetan Buddhist rimpoche—or acclaimed master—who makes an appearance and whose wisdom plays a key role in how the story unfolds.

Visit Barbara Graham's website.

The Page 69 Test: What Jonah Knew.

--Marshal Zeringue