The author opens up about her debut novel, including how her upbringing contributed to the story.
Sunday Brennan is coming home.
First and foremost, it’s an exploration of the idea of returning home.
Tracey Lange is the author of ‘We Are the Brennans’.Natalie Stephenson; Celadon Books
Below, Lange discusses how the Brennans came to be, exploring complex family dynamics, and much more.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What made Sunday the right character to make the driving force of this story?
TRACEY LANGE:To me, she made a lot of sense.
[Sunday] coming home is really what sets everything in motion.
Why did you choose to write through the perspectives of multiple characters instead of having one central figure?
Was it difficult to keep track?
I was a little nervous because it was an awful lot of voices.
I wanted to double-check they were each individual and we didn’t lose track of anybody in the mix.
We Are the Brennansreally dives into family and secrets.
What did you want to explore about these topics?
I wanted to dive into all of that.
What inspired him, and how much fun was he to write?
He was a lot of fun to write!
I was able to build that into Mickey’s character, so that alone was kind of fun.
There are many characters who are part of the Brennan clan.
Did any of them surprise you while writing?
Which relationship was difficult to write?
Another complex relationship Sunday has is with her first love, Kale.
What made them an interesting pairing to include in this narrative?
It nicely complicated things for Sunday, and creates lots of good tension.
What is it about reconnecting with family that is so ripe for storytelling?
It seems like a universal relatable thing.
Not everybody is carrying around secrets like the Brennans are, but people are spread out more often.
Speaking of the relationships in the book, Theresa and Denny have an extraordinary meet-cute.
How did you come up with it?
I thought it was a cool way for two people to meet and start out.
The Brennans are a great complex fictional family.
Can you share some other family dramas that have stayed with you?
These are very tangled, beautiful, messy family dramas.
One that actually made me laugh out loud isThis Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper.
A show that I absolutely have loved isShameless.
Those are the kinds of stories that I absolutely love.
What do you hope people take away fromWe Are the Brennans?
That’s one of the big messages I hope people take away from the book.
