Q&A with Asale Angel-Ajani

From my Q&A with Asale Angel-Ajani, author of A Country You Can Leave:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I think the title, A Country You Can Leave, does some work to take the reader into the story but not all of it. The title operates at three levels: first, it acts as a container that sort of helps make clear to the reader the confines of living in this desert community. The second thing the title does is reference the fact that Lara’s parents are immigrants, both from countries that have had a long history of citizens being unable to leave easily—Cuba and Russia.

What's in a name?

Names are everything! In the book, names have a lot to do with belonging—Yevgenia, Lara’s mother—names Lara after...[read on]

Visit Asale Angel-Ajani's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Country You Can Leave.

The Page 69 Test: A Country You Can Leave.

Q&A with Asale Angel-Ajani.

--Marshal Zeringue