“I was interested in the idea of setting something in a community where you sort of go to escape and you think all your problems are going to be solved,” says Shepard during an interview with Pittsburgh City Paper.
Currently a resident of Mt. Lebanon, Shepard, who’s best known for the hit Pretty Little Liars book series, infused Nowhere Like Home with escapism, as it follows three women, all disaffected to some degree, drawn to a remote outpost in an Arizona desert where men are not permitted. Outside phone call are banned, as are questions about past lives. There’s even a padlock on the gate that surrounds the property that keeps the women secure — and locked in.
“I’m interested in these off-the-grid communities anyway, and when I lived in Arizona there’s a lot of emptiness. It’s beautiful, but you can walk out into the desert and there’s just nothing,” says Shepard. “Even where I lived in the suburbs of Tucson, you can walk into the desert and there are snakes, wild dogs and wild pigs called javelinas. There are all kinds of creatures, and also some strange people.”
Shepard will appear at White Whale Bookstore in Bloomfield on Mon., Feb. 19 during a double book launch event for Nowhere Like Home and author Kit Frick’s new work, The Split.
In addition to Pretty Little Liars — which spawned 17 novels, eight companion novels, and a television series that ran for seven years — Shepard also published Penny Draws a Friend, a book for middle grade readers; The Lying Game YA series (six books); nine novels for adults; and eight other YA titles.
If her impressive resume wasn’t proof enough, Shepard, like a middle-distance runner adept at 800-, 1600-, and 3200-meter races, has no problem transitioning between genres.
“When I started thinking I wanted to write books while getting my MFA … I always thought I would write for adults, literary fiction,” Shepard says. “I kind of fell into YA, and when I started writing it, I really liked YA. And when I was starting out, there was not a lot of it.”
She explains that the YA market happened to explode when the first Pretty Little Liars book came out in 2006.
“But I always thought, even then, I still want to write for adults,” she continues. “It’s a little bit different mindset, it’s a little bit different voice, and the topics you cover. You need to be a little careful writing YA.”
While Nowhere Like Home may seem skeptical (Penguin Random House went as far at to describe the premise as “a group of mothers living in a mysterious ‘mommune’”), Shepard says the book is not meant to be a comment on off-the-grid communities and the people who choose that way of life.
“I’m sure there are a lot that are great and a lot that work,” she says. “But I have talked to people on Reddit forums who have tried that way of life. The people who choose to live in or try out these communities are often running from something. They have a lot of baggage and think this is going to solve their problems. There’s often not a lot of mental health support in place, and often that’s really what people need.”Double Book Launch: Sara Shepard's Nowhere Like Home and Kit Frick's The Split. 7 p.m. Mon., Feb. 19. White Whale Bookstore. 4754 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. Free. Registration required. Livestream available. whitewhalebookstore.com
