Author Karen Nelson interviews Lindsay Williams from The Sunken Town
THE SUNKEN TOWN
If you admit one truth, what else will you have to acknowledge?
Lindsay, a thirty-year-old California native, never gave much thought to being adopted. When she unexpectedly inherits her birth mother Claire’s farmhouse in Maine, she is plunged into a journey across the country and across the years into a lake of secrets that will ultimately reveal just how far everyone was willing to go to protect her. Told from both Lindsay’s and Claire’s points of view, The Sunken Town explores adoption, identity, the nature of family dynamics, mother-daughter relationships, the impact of family secrets, the weight of motherhood and the lasting consequences of the choices people make.
Karen Nelson interviews Lindsay Williams
Lindsay and I are sitting in twin Adirondack chairs on the porch of her farmhouse in Maine sipping lattes she has made us from what looked like a professional-grade machine. Her black lab, Riley, is sprawled at her feet chewing on a well-loved tennis ball.
Author: Shall we dive right in?
Lindsay (takes a large gulp of coffee): Go for it.
Author: Why didn’t you ever search for your birth parents?
Lindsay: Yeah, my friends have always found it strange that I wasn’t interested in finding them. The truth is, even though my childhood might not have been perfect, I knew I was loved unconditionally. Many adoptive children feel they were unwanted by their birth parents. They question what about them made their parents want to give them up. I guess I’m just too practical. Claire wasn’t giving me up. She was giving up a baby. Believe me, I understand that. And even before learning the circumstances of my adoption, I trusted that if my birth parents believed I was better off being raised by someone else, then I probably was.
Author: Do you still feel that way now?
Lindsay: Tough question. I would have had a very different life if Claire had raised me. Claire too.
Author: Do you think she and Trey might have run off together? Eventually gotten married?
Lindsay: If that happened, what would his parents have done? Would everything have played out the way Claire feared? And then you have to start asking, would she still have been killed in a car accident? Would I still have ended up inheriting her house? Would Claire even have a house in Maine?
Author: I guess it depends on if you believe in destiny and fate…
Lindsay: You sound like my best friend Emily. Look, I admit I did feel some kind of energy while I was at Machu Picchu with my mother, but I’m not sure that I believe the whole “the universe has a plan for us” idea.
Author: But if you had searched, you might have met Claire before she died.
Lindsay: I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see for myself what traits we had in common. But I do have her diary, and Lauren was still her best friend through all those years. And of course, Trey.
Author: So about Trey, what are you going to do now that you’ve met your birth father?
Lindsay: You really know how to ask the hard questions, don’t you? I wish I knew. I guess we are going to get to know each other.
Author: Do you want to meet your half-siblings? Or your grandmother.
Lindsay: My grandmother was kind to Claire, so yes, I have to admit, I’m curious. I’m not ready for siblings. I’m an only child.
Author: What are you ready for?
Lindsay: Well, it’s only a matter of time before my mom meets Trey. I mean, even if I tried to keep them apart, Grace Williams would find a way.
Author: How do you think that will go?
Lindsay: Both my parents have always been supportive of me finding my birth parents. My mother is the master of keeping up appearances, so I can trust she will be on her best behavior. I’m a little worried about my father. He’s not known for handling his anxiety without a few shots too many of some kind of alcohol. But it’s not like Trey’s dad––I know I should try to think of him as my grandfather, but I just can’t––was without his flaws. I mean, Claire faked her own death to keep me away from him. Can you imagine? Anyway, handling my father will be my mother’s job. Not mine. And she’s had years of practice. The good news is they live on two separate coasts, so it’s not like they are going to become best friends.
Author: Speaking of best friends, what do you think of Lauren? She seems like she was Claire’s “ride or die” as they say.
Lindsay: Everyone should have a friend like Lauren. I can see why Claire trusted her. I’m lucky I have Emily. Even though we want different things, and she can drive me crazy, I know she will be there when I need her. Woman’s friendships can be tricky, but when you find that person who you can tell anything to, you need to hold onto them.
Author: Have you decided where you’re going to live now that you have two houses? I’ve got to say, this farmhouse is pretty great…
Lindsay: That’s the ten-million-dollar question, isn’t it? As long as I have Riley with me, I don’t have to decide until I’m ready. What I’ve learned lately is who I am is not singularly a product of my nature, or my nurture, but a combination of the two. Similarly, I don’t feel like I have to pick between California and Maine. At least not yet. It’s not like either house is going anywhere. I’d like to see what it’s like to live in Maine for all four seasons. And as my mother pointed out, the house in College Terrace is in a perfect neighborhood for a rental. But what I really think is that Riley and I are due for a cross country road trip. I bet he’ll like the Pacific Ocean.
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About the author: Karen Nelson is the author of the novels The Sunken Town and forthcoming The Last Summer at Feather River. She is also the co-founder of the nonprofit Writing By Writers. During her long career in nonprofits she has protected open space, funded cancer research, trained people to complete endurance events, and helped writers bring their work into the world. When not organizing writing workshops, she can be found hiking with her dog, reading, traveling, experimenting in the kitchen, and hosting dinner parties. She writes for various publications and is at work on her next novel.
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, Interviews, On Writing
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