Today I had the opportunity to interview Meg Wolitzer, Author, The Ten Year Nap.  Thanks for taking the time to talk today. Can you tell us why you wrote The Ten Year Nap?

Meg
I am a fiction writer and felt that the complexities of mothers taking a break to care for children were underrepresented in fiction today.  I really did not set out to write a sociological book, or to take a stand on the Mommy Wars.  Even so, the public really wants writers to do that. I guess I shouldn’t be, but I’ve been surprised by the ardent, personal response.  It just reminds us that this is a tough and tender topic.  The good news is it forces people to talk.  I also think that women become in some ways invisible and vulnerable when they leave their careers to take care of kids. You’re no longer defined by your work. We’ve all had that experience when you’re asked at a cocktail party, “What you do?”

Catherine
So since you set out not to take a stand, what was your goal with your characters and the book?

Meg
I came down, finally, on the side of purpose.  I think most women--and men as well--want  to be guided by purpose. I also think the book is about class and money.  I set the stage in Manhattan, a bed of affluence, but my characters are not simply ladies who lunch.  They have anxieties about money and about how their choices affect their family:  “What if I work 3 days a week?  Can I afford to take one more year off?”

Catherine
Have you read the Feminine Mistake?

Meg
I have the book but have not really read it.  I did not want my novel to be swayed by the views of others.  I’m relieved that as a fiction writer I don’t have to support my words with facts and figures.

Catherine
You’re the mother of two teenagers.  Did you always work?

Meg
Yes.  I never would have been able to stop working for a long period of time, for financial reasons, but also, in my experience, work is the anti-death.  It is my passion, and I’m fortunate that as a writer I have  a good deal of flexibility. I think many people’s lives have become more fluid now, and the world needs to catch up to the needs and desires of women.

Catherine
Are you in any of the characters in the book?

Meg
Though I’ve never written anything autobiographical, my life experiences always end up in my books.  There’s a funny little scene in which Amy runs out of the YMCA after her toddler, and she’s half-naked.  That happened to me when my older son was young, and I was mortified, but I was also struck by my role as a mother—the urgency I felt, the connection.  As a writer, some of my observations marinate for a long time until they finally come out in a book.

Catherine
How did you come up with the title?  While you say your goal is not to choose a side, the title is a little judgmental.

Meg
I came up with the title early on and my publisher thought it was a little risky. But the concept of The Nap is not about being asleep at the switch or idle.  Instead, my goal was to show that women do often wake up at some moment in the middle of their lives and say: what’s next?  You come to a point where your kids no longer need you at every turn.  What do you want to do now?  What can you afford to do now?  What makes sense for you and your family and all else?  It might be that you want to read all the great novels or do volunteer work or return to your career.  Everyone’s needs and imperatives are so different.

Catherine
From Nap to OnRamp…I love it!  Thanks for writing this book and giving us all something to think about.