Virginia Evans: “I loved books about things that couldn’t exist.” imaginary

My first memory is reading
I’m not sure what we were reading — “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams or the poems in “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein — but I was undoubtedly with my sister, who is two years older than me, and who has been my role model for being a reader. I imagine us in the back of our family car or lying on our twin beds in the room we share.

My favorite book growing up
I loved the puzzles and fantasy worlds. I read a lot of Nancy Drew books and Gertrude Chandler Warner’s The Boxcar Children. I loved the stories of Narnia and The Wind in the Willows. I loved books about things that couldn’t exist. I think it’s all escapism – crimes solved by kids, talking animals, time travel, and two-inch tall people. I’ve always loved slipping into another, better world.

The book that changed me as a teenager
I read John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath When I was fifteen, that was my first real understanding of what fiction could do, how far a story could go, and how the complexities of life could be put into words. My empathy increased as I saw what the Judd family went through, and learned through the story what happened at that time and place in American history.

The writer who changed my mind
Joan Didion. Every time I read her work, I am changed in some way. Writing her makes me think about the world, people, politics, land, water, time, motherhood, and marriage differently.

The book that made me want to be a writer
I was in college and majored in English and Creative Writing. I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Diseases and discovered what can be done with language and words to make something beautiful and engaging. I believed: I have to do this, I can do this, I will do this.

the Author I have returned to
I tried Jane Austen at a very young age. I didn’t understand the language or the story. I felt lost. When I returned to Pride and Prejudice in my late twenties, I enjoyed it very much.

Books I re-read
“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier and “East of Eden” by Steinbeck are two books I read over and over again, and in fact I’m due a trip to East of Eden right now.

The book that I could never read again
I devoured the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson, but was terrified the entire time. I’ve thought about going back, but I’ve been so upset by it that I don’t think I will.

The book I discovered later in life
I didn’t read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott until just before the 2019 film came out, and I cried during the scenes of Jo trying to become an author. I got so close, and of course I couldn’t. I was still spreading pages on the floor in hope and despair. I had children of my own by then, and I got to know a lot about the girls’ mother – something that wouldn’t have happened if I had read it when I was young.

The book I’m currently reading
While You Were Gone by Sue Miller. This is a reread for me. I discovered Miller 15 years ago, when I was wandering into a used book store and looking at Thorns. I love her stories, especially the old ones. I love the strange undercurrent of the book and the structure of everything – from the story to the sentences.

Read my palm
Can I pick a few? ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett, ‘Beautiful Ruins’ by Jess Walter, ‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith.