A MURDER HITS HOME
A TALK WITH LUANNE RICE, WHOSE UPCOMING NOVEL WAS INSPIRED BY A REALLIFE CRIME
Luanne Rice’s next novel, “Last Day,” comes out Feb. 1, giving her fans something to look forward to this winter. The New Britainborn writer, who now lives on the Connecticut shoreline, tells us about the book, inspired by the 1985 murder of East Lyme resident Ellen Sherman.
L.S.: “Last Day” is your return to adult fiction — a crime novel no less — after “Pretend She’s Here,” which was aimed at youngadult readers. Is it much different writing to a younger audience, especially when addressing topics such as death?
L.R.: Writing “Last Day” took me back to a time when an actual murder affected my family. I always write about experiences that have touched me—this one was particularly dark. It took place years ago, but haunts me still. My young adult novels are also inspired by real issues—or at least emotions—that affect me, that I have dealt with in some way. “The Beautiful Lost” was about a girl living with depression. “Pretend She’s Here” is about a girl who has been kidnapped—that certainly never happened to me, but the family dynamics that led to Emily being vulnerable to being taken were familiar to me and made it possible for me to understand her character and strength.
L.S.: “Black Hall, Conn.” doesn’t really exist, but it should seem real to anyone who lives on the shoreline. What qualities do you take from your reallife coastal communities to make
“Black Hall” seem true to life?
L.R.: I grew up spending summers in Old Lyme (the real Black Hall) and have always been inspired by its beauty—the beaches, coves, marshes, and feeling of living in a small town. I love when reallife residents recognize familiar landmarks in my novels—places like Hallmark Ice Cream, the fish market, the pizza place, Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, the Cooley Gallery, and the Florence Griswold Museum. At times when I have lived far away, writing about Black Hall and Hubbard’s Point (our beach community) has brought me back home. I can feel the sand under my feet, taste the peach ice cream on an August night, and see moonlight reflecting on Long Island Sound.
L.S.: I read that your debut to the public was a poem in another Connecticut newspaper. We hunted online and actually found it! What do you remember about your earliest published work?
L.R.: Thank you for finding it! I wrote “A Lighted Fairyland” about the Christmas lights at Constitution Plaza in Hartford. I was 11, and my mother submitted the poem to Malcolm Johnson’s poetry column the Hartford Courant without my knowing. One morning in December I woke up, and my parents showed me the paper. I was so surprised that my poem had been printed—I had no idea how that happened. It was thrilling, and I still remember the feeling.
‘I GREW UP SPENDING SUMMERS IN OLD LYME (THE REAL BLACK HALL) AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INSPIRED BY ITS BEAUTY—THE BEACHES, COVES, MARSHES, AND FEELING OF LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN.’