It has been a very big year for Karen M. McManus. One Of Us Is Next, the author’s highly anticipated sequel, which hit One Of Us Is Lying, hit shelves in January – followed by The Cousins, a new novel by itself, less than 12 months later.
The frightening new mystery follows the Storys, a family who are jealous of their neighbors. They own the largest building on the island on which they live on the east side, and it seems they are all there – rich, beautiful and a very close family. But then it all falls apart, and the four Story children are disinfected by their mother, who told them you know what you did. And then they never heard from her again.
And then, years later, 18-year-old cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah are all summoned to spend the summer at their grandmother’s resort. Each of them goes, eager to meet the woman who has been an enigma all their lives – and get to the bottom of the truth about what happened between their parents and their grandmother. But while the whole family is built on mysteries, it’s best to leave some things alone.
McManus recently caught up with Her to discuss the power of legacies, The Cousins and the screenplay of One Of Us Is Lying.
“I was reading an article about Kennedy’s grandchildren, younger generation, teenagers and young adults. And they do interesting and entertaining things and politics and other fields, ”she explained, talking about the inspiration for the novel.
“And I started thinking about the power of special names, and how they open doors. And then I thought what would happen if you had a name like that, a legacy like that, and it was taken away, and then you have a chance to get it back. So that’s where the idea for the Story family came from. ”
She noted that the Story family is “a very different family, adding to the idea for The Cousins sprung “from musing about legacies.”
“It’s just a legacy idea, and how to maintain it,” she continued. “And [exploring] what does it mean to be part of a family? ”
The story of the Storys is told largely from the perspective of Milly, Aubrey and Jonah – although some flashback chapters are told from POV Allison, Milly’s mother, which gives the reader a little more insight into what happened next to her. family interior – and “second generation representation”.
“At first, I was just going [use the point-of-views of] the three cousins. But after writing a few chapters, it felt endless. I realized that if I was going to ask readers to invest in the family, they needed to know the older generation. At first, I was going to get all of them to report, but that got awkward – as soon as I started it, it was just too many voices, ”the author explained, although which she was rinn she has a character who once wants to have the opportunity to write a flashback chapter for: Archer, the youngest of the second generation Storys.
“I think his thoughts would have been very interesting. Maybe at some point I will do a bonus chapter from Archer’s point of view, ”she said with a smile.
The previously set chapters allow the reader to do a little more on the animation of the Story family – something that, the author notes, was very important for the reader to find.
“As we unravel an old mystery in this book, I wanted to give readers a greater sense of confidence, and to invest more in that mystery. So I wanted them to know, the characters as they were then, I wanted them to know the people involved in this mystery, and I just wanted to give the Story family more depth , ”McManus explained.
“The cousins really have an outside view, they were never part of this legacy – but their parents were there. So, in order to reveal this parallel life that cousins might have had if they had never been disinfected, it was important to show that their parents were on a day-to-day basis. [as young adults]. ”
In other big news for her books this year, it was announced over the summer that the screen change of One of us is lying has placed a full-season order at Peacock – with the creator at Elite, Darío Madrona, to be the show runner on the series.
McManus, who is a consultant on the series, said Her that it was “surreal” to change the novel for the screen – and she remembered her trip to the pilot set last fall.
“I remember going to the pilot scene last fall. It was so nice that I was able to visit, because of course the world is different now and I don’t know if I will be able to go again. But I remember being dropped off at the site of the hunt, which was a street in Vancouver. And the production had largely taken to the streets. There were just trucks everywhere and equipment everywhere and people and cameras and I thought wow, everyone is here at the moment because I wrote a book And that’s just so surreal for me, ”she said.
She explained that while she hears that the network is currently hoping to release near the end of next year, a hard date has not yet been set – and that even that could change, which subject to filming measures and restrictions. She also explained just how involved she has been in the process.
“I am a councilor [on the show], so they share a lot with me – like different versions of the script – and allow me to give feedback, which is very good. I saw the test tapes of the young actors and actresses playing the characters, which was very interesting to be a part of, ”she said.
“But, you know, the producers, the runner of the show, the director have the ultimate creative vision – it’s a different world. It has been a very collaborative project [though], and a lot of very clever people are working on this change. And it’s inspiring to see the vision and the energy that they bring to it. ”
2021 will also publish McManus’ next book, You will be my death – which she says as “Day off Ferris Bueller meets the mystery of murder. ”
“It’s about those three friends, who one day jump to school and are caught in a crime,” she explained. “Writing was awesome, and it was a new challenge for me because everything happens in one day. So it was an exciting challenge to make sure my characters had a place to grow and discover in less than 24 hours. ”
- The Cousins by Karen M. McManus, published by Penguin Children, now available.