A: I can’t tell you that! You’ll just have to read on. But she is definitely a very strong character. Sometimes, in periods of oppression and mass insanity, the most decisive form of resistance is simply the decision not to engage.
Q: Lena repeatedly says that she’s just a regular girl, not anyone special. How important was it to characterize her in that way? Did Lena’s character change at all from when you first had the idea for this story, or did you always know who she was going to be?
A: It was very important to me that Lena feel like an “every girl” and self-identify that way. I wanted to illustrate through her character that there really is no such thing as someone who isn’t special, because we are completely and totally defined by our choices. Lena makes extraordinary choices and acts with extraordinary integrity and bravery, and so she becomes extraordinary.
Q: Redemption, transformation, and sacrifice are all major themes in your writing. Is writing about them a conscious choice? Why are those themes important to you?
A: That’s a great question. I do seem to gravitate toward those three themes again and again. It’s not necessarily conscious, but I definitely know that I’m uninterested in writing stories that don’t allow me to explore those themes. I think I look constantly to transform, and to find beauty and peace by giving to others. I’ve gone through very dark periods of my life; I guess I write partially to indicate a way out of the murk, a way toward the light, even when I can’t perceive it for myself.
Q: Here is your chance to ask yourself any question that you would like to answer. You’ve done many interviews. What haven’t people asked you that you would like readers to know?
A: Oh man. You know, I think it’s important for people to know that I love writing and it’s necessary to me, but it’s also hard, and it remains hard even if you really work at it—especially when you do, actually. But anything worth doing in life is worth working for, I think.
Acknowledgments
To my wonderfully patient and attentive editor, Rosemary Brosnan, who is part mentor, part taskmaster, part therapist, and all friend.
To Elyse Marshall, publicist extraordinaire, for the immensity of her support.
To the best agent in the world, Stephen Barbara, for putting up with me (I don’t know how you do it).
To everyone at Foundry Literary + Media, in particular Hannah Gordon and Stephanie Abou.
To Deirdre Fulton, for letting me stay for an entire summer while researching this book.
To Arabica Coffee House in Portland, Maine, for the deliciousness of your coffee and toast and the proliferation of your electrical outlets.
To Allison Jones, for her enthusiasm, advocacy, and general loveliness, and for single-handedly hand-selling Before I Fall to the entirety of Williamsburg, Virginia.
To my aunt Sandy, for years of constant love and support.
To all of my lovely blogger friends and fans, for making what I do worthwhile.
To my family, as always, for loving me.
And to my friends, of course, for being like family.
Credits
Cover photograph ? 2011 by Michael Frost
Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons
Art direction by Cara E. Petrus
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE ABOUT THE DESCRIPTION OF PORTLAND, MAINE: Although many of the larger geographical areas indicated in this book do, in fact, exist (such as Tukey’s Bridge, the Cove, Munjoy Hill, and the neighborhood of Deering Highlands), as I had the pleasure to discover while staying there to research this book, most (if not all) of the streets, landmarks, beaches, and universities are of my own invention. To the residents of Portland: Please excuse the fictional liberties I have taken with your wonderful city, and I’ll see you soon.
The lines from “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in”.
Copyright 1952, ? 1980, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust, from Complete Poems: 1904–1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.
* * *
DELIRIUM. Copyright ? 2011 by Laura Schechter. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oliver, Lauren.
Delirium/Lauren Oliver.—1st ed.