What inspired you to set the book in Truro, MA? Did the plot come first or the setting?
I think it was the setting first because the story grew from a piece of memoir writing that I did. There’s one scene in the book when Eve is in Cape Cod; she meets a young artist at a party, and the next day they go to the beach together. It’s the day after a big storm, and the buoy of a lobster pot is bouncing in the waves, and they pull it in and take the lobsters from it. It’s a very magical and romantic day. That’s really the only part of the story that literally, specifically, a scene that comes from my own life. I had a friend who I met in Cape Cod when I was in my twenties who was an artist, and we had this experience of pulling in a lobster pot after a storm, and there were lobsters in it. I was in a writing group and just wanted to write something to capture that day because it was so poignant and sad in retrospect but so magical and beautiful at the time. I found it, so fun to write about this place that I loved so much, so I wrote about this scene and tried to describe the ocean on that day. I brought it into the writing group, and I was like, I don’t know where I’m going with this, and they all said just keep going and see what happens. So I kept writing and it just kind of became fictional. I thought I’d write about myself at that time working in publishing in New York, and just one day, I was writing a description of being in the offices of Little Brown, where I worked after college, but a character appeared, Jeremy who was completely fictional and I didn’t know what his story was. He was kind of ornery and had a secret. So I just kept going, but I really placed the story in Cape Cod as a love letter to Cape Cod. I love Truro; I love the Cape.
Writing it was kind of trying to capture why it was so special to me, and I think that there’s something really special about places we don’t live permanently but that we continually go to and we leave. I think that, combined with the particular beauty of Truro, makes you somehow more aware of what’s special about it. Every time I arrive there, it’s like a relief that it’s all still there, still beautiful. Every time I left from the time I was a child, I would always take one last look at the marsh and the hills or ocean to try to get it in my head, almost like can I bottle this sense of what it’s like to be here so I can have it all winter long. So I found it really enjoyable to write about and easy to write about because I knew the place so well. I could see it. I didn’t have to look at pictures to describe anything; it was just in me. So setting it there was a lot of fun for me.
Are there any personal connections or experiences that you have with some of the places that you mentioned in The Last Book Party?
The story is set in 1987, and Truro hasn’t changed a lot because, as you know, there’s not much there, and Truro Center is tiny, but it has changed some. When I was growing up, Truro Center, which still today just Jams, the post office, a wine bar, and a realtor’s office. In 1987, the building that is Jams in the story was an old gas station, laundry mat, and grocery store called Schoonejongen. Joe and Ellie Schoonejongen owned this store, and they were kind of grumpy. The store was overpriced because summer people would pay for it. There’s a scene where Eve remembers going in with her mother, which is very much taken from real life. I was scared of Ellie Schoonejongen when I was little. It was kind of a dusty dark store where you could get milk or cereal. People complained about it all the time. It was too expensive, and the Schoonejongen’s weren’t particularly warm. But then, in 1987, Jams opened, and Jams was fancy. Jams was not “Old Cape”; it was “New Cape.” Jams was like a baguette for three dollars. Jams had good coffee; you could get the newspaper, muffins, and rotisserie chicken. It was very much a new kind of place, and it’s still there now.
I didn’t realize until I was writing the book I had already decided to set the book in 1987, and then I discovered Jams opened in 1987, and I really liked that because it was kind of like Cape Cod changing. I explore the dynamics of different worlds within Truro, so the literary world and Eve’s world are quite different. Eve’s parents are renting; it’s a newer house. They are conventional professionals. The literary world lives in old, run-down houses. There’s a line in the book about how Tilly and her husband would never set foot in Jams because that was fancy and yuppie. Jams is still there exactly like it was in 1987 but with different owners. There are probably people who still don’t go there because it’s expensive, but Truro has changed a lot. Thankfully, it hasn’t changed the landscape too much because I think three-quarter of Truro is National Seashore and can’t be built on. The ocean beaches are still deserted, and there’s still a lot of undeveloped land. But on the land that’s not National Seashore, there’s been a lot of new houses built and bigger, expensive homes. It’s not as fancy as Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket; it’s not on that level, but it’s changed, and Jams was the beginning of that.
The library is the other thing in Truro Center that’s still there from the book. The old Cobb library is towards Provincetown, and it’s a little building up a bunch of steps. It’s a really charming building. It’s now The Cobb Archives. It’s a library archive, so you can go in there during certain hours and appointments. They have maps of old Truro and old books and the town archives. When I was growing up, and at the time the book is set, it was the main library of Truro. It was a one-room library kind of arts and crafts style inside. Really cozy and beautiful. I used to love going there, and it was very small, but it was really nice. It’s still a beautiful building; it’s worth a visit.
When you’re writing about these real life places, do you have to reach out to them and get their permission to discuss them in the book?
No, I didn’t, and you don’t have to. I did mention the previous owners of Jams, but they have both passed away. I wanted to get everything right for two reasons. One, when I reference things, I wanted to be sure they are accurate. This is probably because I used to be a journalist, and you have to get things right. The other is when I’m reading something in fiction, and it’s a place I know, and there’s a little detail that’s wrong; it not only makes me annoyed that the author got it wrong but it kind of pulls you out of the story and it makes you mistrust the author. Like well, she didn’t know the name of this place, so what else does she not know? So I was very careful to get things right.
I did mention Montano’s Restaurant, and I called them because I thought it was Montano’s in ‘87, but it didn’t become Montanto’s until ‘88 or something. Before that, it was called Captain Josie’s. So I actually called the restaurant to talk to them and said no, I need to know exactly when it switched from this restaurant to the other because I never even heard of the other restaurant.
Is there one place you’d want a reader to visit on Cape Cod?
Yes, definitely. Longnook Beach. It’s an ocean beach and technically a town beach. From June - the end of September, you have to have a parking permit to park between 9 am - 4 pm. If you don’t have a parking permit, you can park before nine, after four, or during the off-season. Longnook is a beautiful beach. It’s the tallest sand dunes on the East Coast, and the parking lot comes in part way up the dunes, so from the parking lot, you can walk out to the bluff and walk down to get to the beach, but the dunes also go way, way up above you. It’s just gorgeous; it’s a beautiful view. You can see far out; sometimes, you can see whales from there.
Did you have a house in mind when you were describing Henry and Tilly’s house?
It was sort of a combination of houses on South Pamet Road. One that’s on the way to Ballston Beach, a house with a tennis court, and then there was another house right before you get to Ballston Beach that’s set up to the right. It’s an old house on the hill overlooking the ocean. I’ve actually was at a party at that house which kind of inspired the first scene, so I sort of combined those two houses. So you have the vast lawn, the party, but you also have the tennis court and old Cape houses that are a little rundown, dark inside with smaller rooms. Very different than the new houses.
What is your favorite book set on Cape Cod?
It's funny because since I've written the book, I've heard about so many books in the recent years. But during the time I was writing it, I was kind of like, why aren't there more books set on the Cape? I mentioned Thoreau's Cape Cod in the book, and really I love that book. The Second Home by Christina Clancy is a great pairing with The Last Book Party. Any of Jamie Brenner's books. She really places things in Provincetown. She very much knows this is based on this inn and shops.