Interviews
Ransom Notes Interview with Sara Gran
Paul Goat Allen: Sara, first off, congratulations on a breathtaking novel. I was absolutely blown away by the story's overwhelming sense of realism. As a 30-something author, what was the inspiration behind writing a novel set in the 1950s that revolved around a recovering heroin addict?
Sara Gran: Thank you! I had long wanted to write a book that took place in the same world as the great noir books and movies of that era, but more specifically a world that was inhabited by real people, complicated and strange as they are. Once I began, and the character was there, everything followed from that. It wasn't a conscious decision to write about, say, heroin -- the addiction aspect of it was a natural extension of the character's personality. The same with the setting, the place, and the time.
PGA: What kind of research goes into writing a novel like this?
SG: I read old dictionaries of slang, old and new books about cons and con artists, and of course a lot of books about drugs and a lot of mystery novels. I bought dozens of pulp paperbacks on eBay. I read everything I could find about heroin use in that era, which wasn't much. It wasn't well publicized then, although it certainly existed. Fortunately,
The New York Times had reported on the influx of heroin in 1950, so a few short articles from the
Times were a major source. Some things I was never able to uncover to my satisfaction, and I just had to guess at. This isn't a well-documented area of history.
PGA: Josephine Flannigan is such a complex, tragic figure. Is she based on or inspired by any literary characters that you've come across in your reading?
SG: No, not really. She was one of those characters that just comes to you fully developed. I just started writing one day, and there the character was.
PGA: Can you talk a little bit about the novel's conclusion? I've always loved books that leave readers reeling, either from surprise or shock or both. The conclusion of
Dope was just brilliant -- honestly, one of the most memorable endings I've ever come across. Did you have this exact conclusion in mind as you were writing
Dope?
SG: To answer your question: yes and no. One thing that was hard about writing a mystery for me was getting all my facts in order. I can't stand it when I read a mystery and some little aspect of the mystery, some clue or issue of timing, doesn't work out. Getting all the little facts perfectly in order was a hard and sometimes boring job -- so although I had the idea for the ending in place from the very start, the exact circumstances of it had to be changed again and again as more loose ends generated themselves and had to be tied up.
PGA: Booksellers and book reviewers often describe novels by comparing them to other works and/or authors, sometimes with highly unusual amalgams -- he's a blend of Raymond Chandler and Bram Stoker, she's equal parts Stephen King and Sue Grafton, etc. If you had to describe
Dope this way, what novels and/or authors would you use? I've heard it called a blend of Patricia Highsmith and William S. Burroughs…
SG: Well, gee, that's a tough one to beat, and I'll gladly take it. Someone -- I think my publisher -- said Chandler and Burroughs, which is equally flattering. You know, it's fun to come up with these things: Muriel Spark meets Rex Stout. The love child of
Christiane F. and
Dragnet. The unholy bastard offspring of
Chinatown and
Sunset Boulevard. I could go on forever, although I'm not sure how relevant any of these are.
PGA: Those were great -- and all fitting. Thanks again, Sara, for taking the time to answer these questions for Barnes & Noble.com -- and, again, congratulations on an amazing novel. I loved it!
SG: Thank you, Paul! If anyone else likes it half as much, I'll be happy.
