Who can say what launching your first novel in a pandemic will look like?
Certainly, the experience is taking Diane Cook by surprise.
But things started lining up in her favor, too.
Credit: Harper
The New Wildernesscenters on a mother’s relentless bid to save her daughter.
This means living the city they’ve always called home, and searching for refuge far, far away.
Their bond is tested in remarkable ways.
Read on below.The New Wildernessis nowavailable for purchase.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You imagine an all-too-realistic dystopian future.
How did it first come to you, and how did it develop into this novel?
So it jumped in scope pretty quickly.
But it felt right and I never looked back.
That gave me my Wilderness State in the book.
And the people and the rules and the power struggles followed.
Nature and wilderness remains a core theme of your work.
How do you see that evolving fromMan V. Natureto here?
Their core ideas were born at the same time.
The difference is that I used fabulism a lot in my story collection.
The worlds of the stories are familiar, but there is often something impossible that happens.
In considering a world ravaged by climate change, what kind of research did you do?
Did anything stick out or surprise you?
Our current news gave me all the information I needed to imagine what might have taken place.
The very fundamental ways humans used to survive.
In my vision of the future those skills are needed again.
The key to every great survival tale is a strong emotional core.
In this case, its a mother-daughter story.
How did that come to you, particularly against this backdrop?
It was a case of the two preoccupations meeting right in the middle.
I love to write about the natural world and peoples relationship with [it].
She belongs there, becomes a part of the place.
This causes a fundamental rift between them.
I wanted to write about the ways we lose important people in our lives.
Not just in death, but in the ways we dont connect, even when we want to.
I think that is so common in relationships between mothers and daughters.
It is such an elemental bond.
It can feel so charged, feel so loving, and then hurt so much.
I had the idea for the book in 2012 but I didnt start writing it until around 2015.
It was just too big a project.
The trick was to have an outline but still be able to discover new things while I was writing.
The thing I had to work hardest at was finding the point of view.
In early days I was writing in first and third, even second person.
I was all over the place, just going with whatever came out.
When youre stuck, always open a new document!
Youre releasing this book in the midst of a different kind of global nightmare.
The desire and need to seek refuge, for many, is strong right now.
Its been interesting to think aboutThe New Wildernessin terms of now.
I think because my history with the book is so long and so full of other touchstones.
Its a complete mess, one that feels shocking but also uniquely American.
Something basic about society seems cracked.
And there doesnt feel like theres a safe place to flee to in this country right now, either.
This novel has already been longlisted for the Booker, and its not even out yet!
Whats the feeling there?
Its been pretty wild.
The pandemic has really altered the reality for a lot of us publishing books this year.
To be honest, I was expecting a pretty quiet launch and a small readership.
I think most people hadnt heard of the book.
In a moment, with the Booker announcement, that changed.
So many more people will hear aboutThe New Wildernessand hopefully theyll read it.
Thats all writers want to be read.
Im really astonished and grateful that the judges responded to the book the way they did.
