So I started with Janie in boarding school, in close third person, meaning the narrator says “she” but is basically in her mind. Benjamin has gone off with his father, and Janie doesn’t know where he is.

But the circumstances at the end of The Apothecary determined the form of The Apprentices: everyone is scattered. The other main character is Benjamin Burrows, the apothecary’s son, and I briefly considered writing a second book from his point of view. I could never cut away to the villains or include anyone else’s point of view. I could only write about things Janie experienced, so she does a lot of eavesdropping. But I’d never written a whole book in first person before, and I found it kind of frustrating after a while. I loved writing in Janie’s voice, and I think it really helped me write the novel. The Apothecary is narrated by a character named Janie Scott, and it’s the story of what happened to her when she was 14, in 1952. What made you change from purely Janie’s point of view to one that switches? I have also read and enjoyed all of Maile’s books, but these questions are hers.īetween your first installment ( The Apothecary) and the second ( The Apprentices), you changed the point of view from first person to third person. This is a guest interview post by my daughter. The sequel, The Apprentices, is coming out in June. Maile is also a friend, and I previously interviewed her in person about the release of her first young readers book, The Apothecary. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, Sunset, O, and The New Yorker. She’s written award-winning books including novels Liars and Saints, A Family Daughter, and story collections Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It, and Half In Love.

The apprentices maile meloy