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Authors Interviewing Characters: Kristin Bair

October 18, 2025 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

Kristin Bair

CLEMENTINE CRANE PREFERS NOT TO

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” hits perimenopause in this razor-sharp, wickedly funny novel about one woman’s awakening in a patriarchal world.

For years, Clementine Crane has been the invisible force holding her Byrock, Massachusetts, home together—juggling three demanding kids, a husband who’s more hindrance than help, a soul-crushing boss at the local library, and a mountain of invisible tasks reserved for women.

But when her first hot flash hits, marking the onset of perimenopause, Clementine starts to wonder: When is enough, enough? As the pressures mount and mysterious, almost mythic signs of the extraordinary punctuate her days, she takes a stand—one small refusal at a time. With a defiant “I prefer not to,” she embarks on a journey to reclaim her voice and identity.

Overwhelmed and fed up, Clementine goes on strike—ditching obligations, setting boundaries, and venting her frustrations on social media. When her raw, hilarious, and unexpectedly poignant videos go viral, Clementine finds herself at the center of a movement she never saw coming.

With her irreverent best friend by her side, Clementine isn’t just pushing back—she’s rewriting the rules. This laugh-out-loud, heart-on-sleeve adventure is a battle cry for every woman ready to live life on her own terms.

KRISTIN BAIR INTERVIEWS CLEMENTINE CRANE

(Clementine slumps into a chair, wearing nothing but a bra and a pair of wool pants. Sweat beads on her neck, and she’s pressing a glass of ice water against her forehead. Kristin turns on the recorder.)

Kristin: Thanks for meeting with me, Clementine. You’ve been hard to pin down lately.

Clementine: (rolls her eyes) You try having a hot flash every seventeen minutes and waking every damn night at 1:38am. You’d be hard to pin down too.

Kristin: Let’s start big picture. I keep telling people you’ve been radicalized against the patriarchy by your first hot flash of perimenopause. Accurate?

Clementine: (laughs) Accurate enough. It’s not like I broke into a cold sweat in the grocery store and shouted, “Down with the patriarchy!” But imagine this: I’m standing in front of my husband and three teenagers, bright red, panting, shirt soaked through—and every single one of them still expects dinner. Then my gynecologist hears my symptoms and doesn’t even mention perimenopause. Instead, he prescribes an antidepressant and suggests I take up a cold weather sport. That’s when the match hit the tinder.

Kristin: And did you take up a cold weather sport?

Clementine: (smirks) I tried curling. My poor daughter is still recovering.

Kristin: I’ve heard a rumor that Anna isn’t thrilled with you unraveling in public.

Clementine: (sighs) Shocking, right? A teenager embarrassed by her mom. Add it to the very long list of things about me that mortify her—breathing too loud, picking her up from hockey practice in the wrong coat, existing.

Kristin: But does part of you ever worry she’s right? That unraveling in public makes you look unhinged, not powerful?

Clementine: Not at all. I’ve spent decades being the calm, capable, reasonable, put-together woman the world demands. Where did it get me? Exhausted. Invisible. Expected to remember everyone’s dentist appointments while drowning in my own sweat. At least now people notice me. At least now I notice me.

Kristin: Do you think this is a universal experience? That other women are feeling the same way?

Clementine: Absolutely, and that’s why they need to meet me. Perimenopause and menopause are finally part of the zeitgeist, and it’s about damn time. We’ve suffered in silence for centuries—sweating through meetings, carrying the mental load, holding marriages together with duct tape and wine—while pretending nothing’s wrong. Now we’re comparing notes, telling the truth, and realizing we’re not broken. We’re furious. And fury is fuel.

Kristin: I can’t let the moment pass without asking the obvious—your catchphrase has everyone talking. What’s with “I prefer not to”?

Clementine: I have to give credit where credit’s due. Herman Melville’s Bartleby said it first. But his “I prefer not to” was a retreat from the world. Mine is the opposite. It’s about stepping forward, saying no to silence, no to carrying everyone else’s weight, no to the patriarchy. Every time I say it, I feel more alive. More me.

Kristin: So, what keeps you going?

Clementine: The community I’m building. Every time one of us says, “I prefer not to,” it spreads. It’s not just my rebellion anymore—it’s ours. We’re a worldwide chorus.

Kristin: (nods) Now, the question I ask every protagonist. If you had to pick three objects that somehow tell your story, what would they be?

Clementine: A celestial goldfish, a woolly mammoth, and a green sweater. Don’t ask me to explain—people will have to read the book.

Kristin: And finally, anything you’d like to say to the men in the world? The husbands?

Clementine: (grins) I prefer not to.

PREORDER HERE

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Kristin Bair writes fiercely—and humorously—about women navigating (peri)menopause, marriage, motherhood, the mental load, and identity. Her fourth novel, Clementine Crane Prefers Not To (Oct. 14, 2025), tells the story of a woman radicalized against the patriarchy by her very first hot flash. She also wrote Agatha Arch Is Afraid of Everything (a People magazine Best New Book), The Art of Floating, and Thirsty. Kristin teaches in the MA in Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University and at the Yale Writers’ Workshop, and is a fiction editor at Pangyrus, a literary magazine. A native Pittsburgher, she now lives north of Boston with her husband and two kids. To learn more, visit her website at kristinbair.com and sign up for her newsletter. You can also follow her on Instagram and TikTok at @kbairokeeffe.