Goodreads asked Mark Fine:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Mark Fine Though they don’t realize it, I would have to credit my two sons. It was important to me that my sons learned about their African roots from their father; but my personal story isn’t that interesting. So I chose to couch the story from the perspective of far more intriguing characters, that of Elsa (who’s white) and Stanwell (who is black). The cruel dynamics of the love-struck couple’s story is all theirs, but the place and time that I inserted them is very much mine. This then provided me with the platform to shine a bright light on the dark underbelly of racism and tribalism within a tense romantic setting.

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