There’s a well-known adage, “Write what you know.” What this means is a topic of debate. After all, mystery and horror writers obviously haven’t (hopefully!) experienced directly much of their subject matter. “Write what you know” can refer to emotions and the crafting of characters, though for fiction, especially for first-time writers, it often translates into a Roman à clef, a novel based on real life. I just finished the Naples quartet by Elena Ferrante, four novels that take place in a Neapolitan slum, with all the color one would imagine in such a setting: betrayals, marital abuse, child abuse, the Camorra (Neapolitan mafia), illiteracy, etc. She writes under a pseudonym and her ability to transport the reader directly into this post-war Neapolitan life leaves […]
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