sequoia nagamatsu how high we go in the dark

But my vision for the book was ultimately one of hope…at first in small increments but that hope ultimately compounds, sends tendrils of light throughout the interconnecting chapters. I’m always going to be up front and say that this book can be a very heavy read. “More recently, as people who have no connection to me have begun to read and review the book, a lot of my earlier fears about readers missing my vision or being too afraid to engage with the subject matter mistakenly thinking that I have exploited our tragedy have been largely mitigated. I called my father, from whom I had been estranged for years. Editing this chapter helped me make the opposite decision in my own life.

“There’s a character in the novel who fails to make the decision in time to help his dying mother. The book gave structure to his days (“even my teaching days which seemed largely abstract during a year of nonstop Zoom”), and provided space for reflection and catharsis amidst some personal losses, including the death of his father. I had been working on my novel for so long and when my agent finally said we were finally ready to go on submission I understandably had mixed feelings (despair wouldn’t be too far from the truth)-would editors be too afraid to go near a book with a plague element? Would this book ever see the light of day? But once the book sold, the process of editing and thinking about my talking points for publicity campaigns honestly saved me in a lot of ways.” “At the outset of the pandemic, “he told me, “I was, like a lot of people, living in a lockdown fog. That experience set the stage for our conversation. During this disorienting time of upheaval and pandemic, Sequoia Nagamatsu has been preparing to launch his first novel, How High We Go in the Dark.

Sequoia nagamatsu how high we go in the dark