‘Heart of Palm’ examines Fla. family
In “Heart of Palm,” first-time novelist Laura Lee Smith introduces readers to the Bravo clan of Florida: matriarch Arla; sons Frank and Carson; and borderline-OCD daughter Sofia.
Once a real-estate developer makes an offer on the family property, tensions bubble to the surface, something Smith (an advertising copywriter) handles with wit and pathos. Smith called from her home in St. Augustine, Fla., to discuss the book, which has emerged as a critical favorite this summer.
QUESTION: Where do the roots of the story come from?
ANSWER: There are three places. One is the house my grandmother had when I was a little kid. It was actually in New Jersey, a spooky old house I wanted to explore in fiction. I moved the house to Florida and used that as a backdrop. Then there is the memory of a terrible accident that happened to some friends of our family, when their son was killed on a bicycle. The third source was the rapid development that we’ve seen here in North Florida.
Q: Was any aspect more important than others?
A: Once I had that house nailed down, I had a place and I needed to start.
Q: Do you outline? Did you know where the story was going?
A: I did not outline. I knew the central question was going to be are they going to sell their property. But I didn’t know the themes or how I was going to get to the ending.
Q: Did you keep notes on each character?
A: It was nothing as formal as a character sketch, but I had notes and ideas on each character. After a while, I felt like I knew them very well and I didn’t need to refer to them quite so much. Q: How did the writing go? A: There were definitely false starts and wrong turns. There were whole characters that were ultimately written out. Some of the mistakes I self-corrected before I got my agent to look at it. Some were corrected by the help of my agent and editor. They were excellent at spotting missteps.
Q: After all that work, is it frustrating to have an editor come in and say, “This part isn’t working”?
A: It was gratifying to me, in the sense that I had somebody so invested in the work that they cared about it enough to give me very good input. I never felt as if I was being pushed into a direction I wasn’t comfortable with. I was just gracious they were thinking as hard about the book as I was. I would have the manuscript for a few months, then it would go back to Grove for a few months. I had to learn to be very patient. That was the hardest part.
Q: In the book, chapters are told from different characters’ perspectives. Why?
A: Originally, the book was entirely the mother’s book and her story. She was the one telling the story. Frank came along, and he ended up being in some ways more of a central character. We’re in his head more than anybody else’s, and it just kind of evolved naturally. For a long time, it was just Frank and Arla, and then the other characters began to come to life. They began to be very interesting people in their own right, so I started letting them talk as well.
Q: Was it hard letting the characters go once the book was done?
A: Not really. I think I had worked on this for so long I was ready to move on to something else. I do think about them quite a bit, especially when other peo- Each month, and az central.com pick one title, fiction or nonfiction, that we think will entertain and shed light on who we are or where we’ve been. Selection for June: “Heart of Palm,” by Laura Lee Smith (Grove $25). Why we picked it: A big, engrossing and very Southern look at a family in turmoil, “Heart of Palm” is made to be read on a veranda during the steamy summer months. ple ask me about them. I’m very fond of them, but it wasn’t difficult.
Q: What is the “something else” you’ve moved on to?
A: Well, I am working on another book. It’s set in Jacksonville, which is just north of St. Augustine. It’s primarily about a husband and a wife. In the middle of the book, there is a journey to Scotland, which is where the main char- acter is originally from. It’s fun to think about a story with a journey in the middle.
Q: This was your first book. What did you learn that you are taking with you to next project?
A: It’s funny. All the way through the first one, there were so many backups and “fix thats” that it was a very roundabout development. I swore to myself that if I ever do this again, I’m going to go A to Z, a straight, linear line. Well, what I’m finding out is that for me, that’s impossible. I’m entering through many different doors at the same time. I guess that’s just the way it’s going to go.
Q: This book has earned great reviews. Are you the kind of person who goes on Amazon to see what regular people think?
A: Maybe I shouldn’t, but I do. There was one the other day that wasn’t great. You have to understand that not everybody is going to respond the same way to every type of story. I don’t respond to every type of story. I’ve been counseled by people who have been through this before, and the consensus seems to be don’t get too wrapped up in any of it.