from A Conversation with the Author hosted by Kelly Harms, author of THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS OF SHIPWRECK LANE (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press).

KH: I was delighted to get an early reading copy of DOWNEAST LEDGE and discover it was set in a place so beautiful and enigmatic that it’s inspired my own writing too: coastal Maine. The more I read, the more I realized Down East is not just one character in this story, but two very different ones, trying hard to reconcile themselves. Tell us about your own summers in Maine.

NG: I first came to Maine in 1969 to work at the Jordan Pond House on Mount Desert Island and was immediately taken with everything about the state—the fog, the smell of the woods, the deep clear ponds, the craggy windswept mountains–and the contrast between rich and poor. I worked there for several summers and have visited there most summers since. It’s taken me this long to put my Maine experience in perspective.

Next: Rich vs. Poor in DOWNEAST LEDGE.