What is Diane Thomas reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Diane Thomas, author of In Wilderness: A Novel.

Her entry begins:

At this moment, I’m snowed in at our friends’ empty house on the side of a steep mountain in the wilds of far north Georgia, captive until at least tomorrow afternoon, maybe longer. Right now I’m finishing up an early Laura Lippman called In Big Trouble. Chose it from what’s available because (a) plotting doesn’t come easy for me and I thought it might be useful to read some books—like private eye books—where good plotting is essential, and (b) I think I’m about to become fascinated by...[read on]

About In Wilderness, from the publisher:

For readers of Amanda Coplin and Chris Bohjalian, In Wilderness is a suspenseful and literary love story—a daring and original novel about our fierce need for companionship and our enduring will to survive.

In the winter of 1966, Katherine Reid moves to an isolated cabin deep in Georgia’s Appalachian Mountains. There, with little more than a sleeping bag, a tin plate, and a loaded gun, she plans to spend her time in peaceful solitude. But one day, Katherine realizes the woods are not empty, and she is not alone. Someone else is near, observing her every move.

Twenty-year-old Vietnam veteran Danny lives not far from Katherine’s cabin, in a once-grand mansion he has dubbed “Gatsby’s house.” Haunted by war and enclosed by walls of moldering books, he becomes fixated on Katherine. What starts as cautious observation grows to obsession. When these two souls collide, the passion that ignites between them is all-consuming—and increasingly dangerous.

Suffused with a stunning sense of character and atmosphere, Diane Thomas’s intimate voice creates an unforgettable depiction of the transformative power of love, how we grieve and hope, and the perilous ways in which we heed and test our hearts.

Visit Diane Thomas's website.

Writers Read: Diane Thomas.

--Marshal Zeringue