Authors Interviewing Characters: Amy Blumenfeld
SUCH GOOD PEOPLE
By Amy Blumenfeld
I
t’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday in the spring of her freshman year of college, and April is standing at the back of a crowded Manhattan bar waiting for her friend, Rudy, to arrive. Their eyes lock the moment he walks into the room, and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever.
Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, Rudy is incarcerated. And within months, April meets Peter, a prodigious young attorney who makes her world recognizable again.
Years later, April is married to Peter and happily living in Chicago, a mother of three with a fulfilling career and standing yoga date with her girlfriends. But on the eve of Peter’s election for local office, Rudy is up for parole – and headlines explode about April’s past, jeopardizing Peter’s campaign and everything they hold dear. Suddenly, April is faced with an impossible choice: Protect the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life a possibility?
Such Good People is a captivating portrait of blurred lines, divided loyalties, and what it means to love purely, steadfastly, and endlessly.
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Interview with April from SUCH GOOD PEOPLE:
April, thanks so much for speaking with me today.
Happy to be here! Thanks for the invitation!
Congratulations on being one of the main characters in Such Good People. This book centers on you and your childhood best friend, Rudy. Can you tell us a little about your relationship?
Sure. Rudy and I met when we were toddlers on a playground in Brooklyn. Our moms were sitting on park benches watching us run around the slides and swings. When we started talking our moms introduced themselves. Turns out we were neighbors. Rudy and his family lived in an apartment – his dad was the handyman in the building – and my family was in a house up the street. He and I went from pre-k all the way through high school together and our parents became close because of our friendship. He practically lived at my house – even if I wasn’t home, he’d stop by to say hi to chat or watch TV with my parents. We rode our bikes everywhere together, grabbed slices of pizza after school once a week, got our first jobs at a local bagel store together, I mean, totally inseparable. I don’t really believe in past lives but if I did, I’d say somehow, in some form, Rudy and I, our souls, have been linked for eternity.
Soul mates?
Yes, something like that.
Sounds like a unique and special bond.
(She nods). He’s a really good person.
Actually, that brings me to my next question. The book is titled SUCH GOOD PEOPLE. What do you think makes “good people”?
I guess the simple answer is that I think good people are the ones genuinely driven by kindness and compassion. They think about others. The complicated answer is that it all comes down to nuance. I suppose that’s what this book is about – the grey areas, the circumstance, the nuance.
Absolutely. And it’s also about friendship, loyalty, injustice and the ripple effects of split-second decisions.
Correct. (She sighs). And how things can change so quickly.
Tell me more…
Well, it’s a lot to get into in this interview, but I can tell you that one moment I was a college girl going to parties, living in a dorm, writing for the school paper, and the next I was expelled, back at home with my parents, and my best friend was sentenced to 15 years in prison. So yeah, my life changed in a flash.
After you were expelled from college and Rudy went to prison you met Peter, a lawyer and the man who would become your husband. How did your paths cross?
We met at one of those fancy New York charity fundraiser galas. We were randomly assigned to the same dinner table and seated next to each other. We started talking about our mutual love for Atticus Finch and the rest is history.
Sweet. And you guys moved to Chicago? How’d that happen?
Around the time Peter and I got engaged he was offered a job in Chicago. He’s from Boston, I’m from Brooklyn, and we were both excited by the prospect of a fresh start. We quickly warmed to the idea of planting roots in an unfamiliar town where we knew no one, had no past, and could start from scratch. We had an intimate wedding at the Drake Hotel, I delivered our three kids at Northwestern Hospital, we renovated a gorgeous condo in the South Loop, had fulfilling jobs, and built a great community of friends. My biggest complaint with Chicago has always been the abundance of deep-dish pizza restaurants. It’s not easy being a regular New York slice kinda girl in a Lou Malnati’s world!
Ah, I get it. Nothing like a New York slice! Speaking of New York, do you get back often, especially now that Rudy has been released from prison?
Well, that’s an interesting question. (She smiles.)
Is there an interesting answer?
You’ll have to read the book to find out.
Will do! Thanks so much for speaking with me!
My pleasure!
BUY HERE
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Amy Blumenfeld is an award-winning author and journalist. She is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University and received a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism. Her articles and essays have appeared in various publications including the New York Times, The Huffington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, as well on the cover of People. Amy’s debut novel, The Cast, was selected as a New York Post Best Book of the Week. She has contributed to three non-fiction books, including a USA TODAY bestselling anthology. Amy lives in New York with her husband and daughter. Such Good People is her second novel.
Category: On Writing
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