Ep. 84: Paula McLain (Author of When the Stars Go Dark) + Book Recommendations
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.9 • 732 Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2021
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 84, Paula McLain (author of When the Stars Go Dark) shares why decided to break from her previous style now, how nervous she was through the publication process, and her research into childhood trauma.
This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
Highlights
- Why Paula decided to break from her historical fiction roots at this particular time in her career.
- Paula’s writing style and how it works with suspense.
- The point in Paula’s process where she figured out When the Stars Go Dark would contain so much of her personal history.
- Paula’s writing process and if it changed with When the Stars Go Dark given it was such a different kind of book than her previous work.
- How nervous Paula was to take this leap at different stages of the publication process.
- How Paula normally pitches new books to her publisher at this stage of her career…and how she had to pitch When the Stars Go Dark differently.
- Paula’s research into childhood trauma for this book.
- A bit of detail behind the concept of the “bat signal” from When the Stars Go Dark.
- Paula’s personal reading habits and how she reads while working on a new book.
Paula’s Book Recommendations [28:42]
Two OLD Books She Loves
- Longbourn by Jo Baker | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org
[28:58]
- The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [31:03]
Two NEW Books She Loves
- Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [35:21]
- Festival Days
by Jo Ann Beard | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [38:35]
One Book She DIDN’T LOVE
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org [41:19]
One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About
- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (September 14, 2021) | Buy from Amazon | Buy from Bookshop.org
[44:30]
Last 5 Star Book(s) Paula Read [45:40]
- The Christie Affair
Other Books Mentioned
- Like Family
- When the Stars Go Dark
- Love and Ruin
- The Lovely Bones
- Circling the Sun
- The Paris Wife
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel A. van der Kolk | Buy from Amazon
- Fear Less
- Sea Wife by Amity Gaige (My Review) | Buy from Amazon
[34:30]
- The Boys of My Youth
Other Links
- “Why I Took a Vow of Celibacy” by Paula McLain, New York Times
About Paula
Paula McLain is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels, The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin. On April 13th, 2021 she introduces her latest title, When the Stars Go Dark.
Paula McLain was born in Fresno, California in 1965. After being abandoned by both parents, she and her two sisters became wards of the California Court System, moving in and out of various foster homes for the next fourteen years. When she aged out of the system, she supported herself by working as a nurses aid in a convalescent hospital, a pizza delivery girl, an auto-plant worker, a cocktail waitress–before discovering she could (and very much wanted to) write. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan in 1996.
She is the author of The Paris Wife, a New York Times and international bestseller, which has been published in thirty-four languages. The recipient of fellowships from Yaddo, The MacDowell Colony, the Cleveland Arts Prize, the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, she is also the author of two collections of poetry; a memoir, Like Family, Growing up in Other People’s Houses; and a first novel, A Ticket to Ride. She lives with her family in Cleveland.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm talking with one bookish guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they don't love, and one new release they're excited about. We're going to get real, and sometimes a bit snarky, |
| 0:21.9 | about all things books. If you like the show, I'd really love your support. Spread the word |
| 0:27.0 | to your reader friends, subscribe to the show, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts. |
| 0:32.8 | Let's get rolling. Hey everyone, welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I have absolutely loved Paula McLean's historical |
| 0:40.0 | fiction for years, and I also love literary mysteries, as you all know. So I was really excited and |
| 0:46.8 | intrigued to hear her latest book, When the Stars Go Dark, would be a literary mystery, which was a big |
| 0:52.6 | departure for her. Y'all, she absolutely knocked it out of the |
| 0:55.7 | park. As you know, I have absolutely adored this book, and it is her most personal book yet. Like her |
| 1:01.9 | protagonist, Detective Anna Hart, Paula McLean grew up in the foster care system. She suffered childhood |
| 1:08.2 | trauma, including sexual abuse. And as I was reading her portrayal of the |
| 1:12.7 | impact of childhood trauma, I kept thinking she must have gone through this herself to write it this |
| 1:19.1 | clearly. And in fact, she revealed in an author's note at the end of the book that she had, in fact, |
| 1:24.8 | gone through that. I just had not been aware of that part of her history |
| 1:28.6 | as I was reading, although she did write about it in an earlier memoir called Like Family. |
| 1:34.1 | Paula is the author of New York Times bestselling novels The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, |
| 1:38.5 | and Love and Ruin. After being abandoned by both parents, she and her two sisters became |
| 1:43.0 | wards of the California court |
| 1:44.4 | system moving in and out of various foster homes for the next 14 years. When she aged out of the |
| 1:49.6 | system, she supported herself by working as a nurse's aide in a convalescent hospital, |
| 1:54.1 | a pizza delivery girl, an auto plant worker, and a cocktail waitress before turning to writing. |
| 1:59.5 | She received her MFA in poetry from the University of |
| 2:02.7 | Michigan in 1996. She is the recipient of fellowships from the McDowell Colony, Cleveland Arts Prize, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sarah Dickinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sarah Dickinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.