Narrative threads: How to write a Booker-shortlisted novel, by Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout and more

A trip to the Scottish islands, a psychological experiment, a chance encounter in a drugstore… the finalists for this year’s Booker prize reveal their inspirations Who knows where a novel really comes from? I spend years gathering loose threads and then, when I feel like the cloth will hold, I start to weave them in…

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