New York Times Bestselling author Joyce Maynard’s latest novel How the Light Gets In is a story of family dynamics. Marriage, divorce, motherhood, raising children and letting go and the realization that ‘We don’t tell our children who they should be. They tell us who they are and what they believe. And it may not always be what we want to hear.’
Joyce takes us through three generations of a complex family spanning fifteen years, 2009 – 2024. We discuss how her characters deal with real events. Climate change, the January 6th insurrection, school shootings, and the global pandemic. And life shaping events such as parental estrangement, illness and aging, a child who comes out as transgender and an unexpected late-life love affair. Joyce believes that her job as a writer is to open the conversation about things that we sometimes have a hard time talking about. It’s about forgiveness, looking ahead and ‘letting the light in.’
Joyce is the author of twelve novels and five books of non-fiction. Her bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, has been translated into sixteen languages and her novels, To Die For and Labor Day were both adapted for film.