Sarah Langan | Learning The "Rules" Of Adult Fiction

Some years ago, when my first novel THE KEEPER came out, I received a piece of hate mail from a reader, telling me that I’d gone too far, was evil, and she hoped I never had children. I deleted that e-mail, though in retrospect, perhaps I should have offered to sign and mail her another copy, since she clearly enjoyed the first so much.

My number one fan might be dismayed to learn that four months ago, my daughter Clementine Jane was born. I adore her more than thoughts can express, or I’m even able to admit even to myself. If I admitted it, I’d never leave her side.

THE KEEPER, by far the darkest book I’ve written, confronts incest in a frank and disturbing way, but I took no joy in writing the short scene my angry reader reacted to, nor does that scene glorify the act, or sexualize children. Quite the contrary. And yet, I made an enemy. Given the book’s reception by the Book-of-the-Month club, a lot of enemies.

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