Reader's Ink discussion

Walls wrote this book as a "true life novel." How does this style work, or not work, for the subject matter? Have you read other works in this style?

I feel like I'm right there experiencing the story with them. She writes in a very believable style.

I really liked the style. In general I prefer non-fiction to fiction, so this was a good mix of both. Sometimes I wish fictional characters were real :)

This also interested me because in college my senior writing project was also a "true life novel" about my grandmother. I wrote in the first-person about events in her life in the 1940s, weaving together stories she had told and other research I had done. She passed away shortly after I finished. I should go dig that out and read it again....

Julie, I've been enjoying going back and re-reading a lot of our notes for the last year or so. Did you ever publish the book you wrote on your grandmother. I bet you did a lovely job, and it would be a lovely tribute to her.

Carol- she passed away not long after I completed it, so she never read it.

I never published it, but I should probably pull it out again and take another look. Maybe there's something good in there!! I've re-read several of my stories, essays, and poems from college and each time I think "wow, look how smart I was!". :)