I love her quick wit, and she doesn’t have to suffer too much on the way to a happy ending. “If we’re talking wish fulfillment, Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. If you had the chance to be a character in a Jane Austen novel, what book would you pick and who would you be?

What you want is a person who has solid principles and sticks to them.”ģ. It doesn’t matter if they’re rich or poor, have cheekbones that could cut glass or the bone structure of a marshmallow. “On the romantic side, I think reading taught me to place a high premium on finding someone honorable, to use an old-fashioned word. Usually it’s less a one-to-one correspondence than ‘oh yeah, I recognize that character trait.’ You get a flash of insight, like a human behavior decoder: This person who seems stuck-up may just be shy.

“I can recall a few instances in life where I’ve met someone whose actions only made sense to me vis-à-vis a fictional archetype – Madame Bovary, for example.

Gleaning from Mary’s experience in the novel, do you think that it’s helpful to categorize people into fictional archetypes? How has fiction shaped your view on love/romance? I think my dad even gave one to his hairdresser.”Ģ. For example, if you grow up and publish a book, they will buy a ridiculous number of copies for everyone they know. Every family has conflicts – especially on long road trips, or if someone eats all the ice cream – but in my experience parents and siblings are an incredible source of laughter and emotional support. That sense of “I wish my family would pay more attention to me, except when I want them to leave me alone” is also cribbed from my life. We weren’t all obsessed with classic lit, but the seven-way dinner table conversations were similarly chaotic. “Mary’s family is definitely patterned on mine. Does your book reflect your relationship with your own family members? If so, how? By the Book has excellent family dynamics, which is a bit rare in YA wherein bad parents (particularly bad fathers) abound. It was a pleasure to have this brief discussion, and I hope that you will enjoy it, too. I loved it enough that I wish I had written it myself! So I was delighted when Amanda granted my wish for a blog interview. I haven’t been reading much this year, but this book is one of the best ones I’ve managed to finish. By the Book, her debut novel, is a recent addition to my shelf of favorites. Today, I want to feature a new author, Amanda Sellet. Happy weekend, dear readers! It might not be happy because of the pandemic, but at least we have books to remind us that life can still be beautiful and worthwhile.

By the book by amanda sellet