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I worked on The Tigers of Lents over the course of twelve years. For eleven of those years, the novel had a different title. My editor and publisher liked the earlier title, but asked me to supply an alternative option.
It took two weeks of brainstorming — long lists, plenty of brooding, some cursing — before I zeroed in on a title that links some key aspects of the novel. I also like the sound of The Tigers of Lents. Sound is important.
The Tigers of Lents is a family saga that centers on three feisty teenage sisters living in poverty in Lents, an outer neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. One of the sisters is a soccer star on the verge of possibly accepting a college scholarship. The novel shows how the three girls battle to be taken seriously, how they experience a crash of worlds when they try to engage the wider society, and how they also battle with self-doubts and self-sabotage.
The title connects the novel’s soccer element to the inner character of...[read on]
Q&A with Mark Pomeroy.
--Marshal Zeringue
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