Ask the Author: Julia Phillips
Answered Questions (21)
Julia Phillips
Hahah, Marcia, thank you for both of your questions! I'm so grateful to you and your book club for reading. My fingers are crossed that a next book will be out in the not-too-distant future. And I don't anticipate there'll be a sequel to Disappearing Earth, but who knows?
Julia Phillips
Thank you so much for asking about this! I'm a real lover of writing fiction, so I don't imagine either of those nonfiction projects in my future, but one never knows...
Julia Phillips
Hi Rebecca, thank you so much for reading! And what a good question...this is something I didn't think about explicitly when writing, but have thought about more since the book came out. Someone told me once that they read all the main characters in the novel as thematically connected by the experience of captivity. That both surprised and resonated with me. It makes sense with the plot, I think, that every character, no matter their situation, is in some way held tight in place.
That stuck-in-place feeling is also one I sometimes associate with Kamchatka, which is so huge, beautiful, and full of opportunities to experience incredible things, but which also has really limited transit, few roads, short windows of good weather that allow movement, and restricted access to the outside world. I remember seeing a production of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" while I was there; the characters' longing for Moscow felt so resonant with some of my experiences on the peninsula. People feeling trapped while dreaming of the moment when everything will change. In the play (spoiler alert!) the sisters don't get to Moscow, and I suppose many of my characters don't reach their Moscows either...
That stuck-in-place feeling is also one I sometimes associate with Kamchatka, which is so huge, beautiful, and full of opportunities to experience incredible things, but which also has really limited transit, few roads, short windows of good weather that allow movement, and restricted access to the outside world. I remember seeing a production of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" while I was there; the characters' longing for Moscow felt so resonant with some of my experiences on the peninsula. People feeling trapped while dreaming of the moment when everything will change. In the play (spoiler alert!) the sisters don't get to Moscow, and I suppose many of my characters don't reach their Moscows either...
Julia Phillips
Scott, thank you so much for reading and for this thoughtful question. Structuring the story this way was one of my favorite parts of writing it. I wanted to have every chapter focus on a different woman's point of view because I wanted the book as a whole to explore the spectrum of harm in women’s lives – from the rare and highly publicized (an abduction by a stranger) to the commonly accepted and hardly spoken about (a difficult doctor’s appointment, a toxic relationship). Those hurts echo each other, overlap, and connect us. A kidnapping like the one in this novel's first chapter doesn't happen in a vacuum; it is the tip of the iceberg, one point on a range of violence in our society. I wrote this book to try to run the range.
Julia Phillips
Steve, this is so, so kind. Thank you for reading it. I'm working on another novel about violence and community – I expect those'll always be subjects I obsess over – and I'm crossing my fingers that project makes it into the world in the not-too-distant future.
Julia Phillips
Michael, it means so much that the book resonates with your own experiences in Kamchatka and the Russian Far East. That is a dream come true for me, really. It is an exceptional part of the world.
Working on this story was an enormous education. I spent a long time very much in love with Kamchatka; working on the book, writing into that obsessive love, helped me process what about that place I found so compelling. It offered a way to explore so many different aspects of the peninsula, including (especially?) its geographic, political, and cultural conflicts and contrasts. What a gift to hear now that some of that feeling made its way onto the page and to you.
Working on this story was an enormous education. I spent a long time very much in love with Kamchatka; working on the book, writing into that obsessive love, helped me process what about that place I found so compelling. It offered a way to explore so many different aspects of the peninsula, including (especially?) its geographic, political, and cultural conflicts and contrasts. What a gift to hear now that some of that feeling made its way onto the page and to you.
Julia Phillips
Tiffany, thank you so, so much for reading! I love this question. To me, the book that perfectly captures Soviet memories of contemporary Russians is Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich. Really, I don't think you could go wrong with any Alexievich book – she is a genius. The same blanket recommendation goes for Masha Gessen. And two recent books I've been really excited about are Between Two Fires by Joshua Yaffa and The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts. Ahh! There is so much good work to read!
Julia Phillips
Simone, this is unbelievably kind of you! Thank you for adding that question mark and sending this my way 💙
Julia Phillips
Hi Tony, thank you so much for your kindness here! It blows me away to think that Disappearing Earth is in Kenya with you. I'm working on another book now, and I hope it might be out in the world in the not too distant future. That said, Disappearing Earth took 10 years from conception to publication, so let's see...
Julia Phillips
Victor, I am so grateful to you for reading. Thank you for this. And yes! I'm thrilled that the book will be published in Russia by Mann-Ivanov-Ferber – it's being translated now so hopefully it will be out in the world before too long!
Julia Phillips
Hi Janet! After her November chapter, Valentina appears again in February (page 139 in the hardcover book). After that...well, it's really up to you to decide! I hope you'll imagine for her whatever you want most to come true.
Julia Phillips
Maria, this means so much to me – thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading! Kamchatka is such a beautiful and compelling place, and it makes me happier than words can say that we share this fascination with it now :) Sending you all the very best/всего хорошего!
Julia Phillips
Oh, Magda, that means so much to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for picking this book up!
Julia Phillips
Katie, thank you (and your book club!) so, so much for reading. It means a great deal to me that you connected with Lada and Masha's story. I don't expect to expand on any of the characters in this novel, but I think about them all and imagine them living past what's on the pages here. It makes me happy to picture them as real people in the world.
What a great question about queer Russian fiction. "Wings" by Mikhail Kuzmin is a classic, and "Russian Beauty" by Victor Erofeyev is more contemporary. In addition, I personally love Masha Gessen's nonfiction writing about queerness in Russia. Their reporting is always superb.
What a great question about queer Russian fiction. "Wings" by Mikhail Kuzmin is a classic, and "Russian Beauty" by Victor Erofeyev is more contemporary. In addition, I personally love Masha Gessen's nonfiction writing about queerness in Russia. Their reporting is always superb.
Julia Phillips
Jane, this is so hugely kind. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and for this message!
Julia Phillips
Hi Therese, thank you so much for your vote! I'm working on another novel that explores similar themes to DISAPPEARING EARTH – violence, identity, community – but isn't set in Russia. I hope you'll enjoy it.
Julia Phillips
Sharon, thank you so much for picking up the book and for this kind message. That means everything to me.
Julia Phillips
Rainer, thank you so much for reading and for your kind words. I’ll definitely continue writing fiction. It’s my favorite thing to do in the world.
Julia Phillips
Hahah, Diana, I love this! Both the Bingo game and the bullying — how perfect. I’m so grateful to you for reading. I’m afraid I don’t qualify for the space because I’m the grand old age of 31, but how about Morgan Jerkins, Casey McQuiston or Brit Bennett?
Julia Phillips
This is a really thoughtful question, Nikki. Thank you for asking. I think the book definitely falls under the broad umbrella of "women's fiction" as a work written by a woman about the lives of girls and women, so I'm comfortable with that categorization. But I am generally curious how much utility that umbrella has. Jennifer Weiner seems to sum it up well in a recent essay: "'Women’s fiction' has been a catchall term for years, an ever-expanding tent big enough to cover anything written for women or by a woman, or consumed primarily by women." What an enormous, diverse pool of work. I hope that potential readers of DISAPPEARING EARTH will get to hear its description, like you did, and feel out whether this particular one is right for them.
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