A Q&A with Author Michelle Thompson

Michelle Thompson is the author of A Way to Escape, an epic intergenerational novel that explores the complexities of love, parenthood, abuse and perseverance. Spanning two decades and two countries, it is an uplifting page turner that beautifully captures women’s persistence to survive with a sensitivity that can only be borne of the author’s own experience. This is a love story to women and families.

WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR A WAY TO ESCAPE COME FROM?

The novel itself is loosely based on my own life and my family’s history, but the impetus to write it came from a trip I took to Iran in 2007. It reminded me so much of my home, Jamaica. When people would ask me about the trip and I would write about it, I was writing more about Jamaica than the Middle East. My eventual editor said, “You should just write a book about Jamaica.” So I did. Amusingly, while I was in Iran in the midst of the [U.S. President] Bush era, my first thought was, “Oh my gosh, I am going to need a way to escape.” And after writing about my own family’s journey, that ended up working for the title.

THE BOOK COVERS SOME DIFFICULT TOPICS – ALCOHOLISM, MOTHER/CHILD SEPARATION – WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU TO HIGHLIGHT THESE ISSUES?

Primarily, I wanted to tell my story and those were elements of it. But I wanted to bring those important issues forward too. When I was promoting this story in Jamaica in December 2016, domestic abuse—women being killed at the hands of their spouse—was a big issue. These are topics that resonate with so many people. The struggles I explore are universal. Anyone can pick up the book and relate. It just also happens to be my story.

YOUR BACKGROUND IS IN SOCIAL WORK. HOW DOES YOUR CAREER INFLUENCE YOUR WRITING?

It’s the empathy piece. To empathize with my father’s character, for example, even though he abused my mom. Or why my mom stayed. I wanted to show multidimensional people and the complexities of relationships. We don’t know much about my dad and what made him drink. As a social worker, I could allow him more than just a drunkard character. When people are able to see those dimensions, we inject a bit more compassion into the world.

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST SCENE OF THE BOOK TO WRITE?

Definitely the abuse and violence. It was hard to write and it’s hard to think about even now. There is a responsibility to make it truthful and honest, but not so weepy that the audience isn’t able to get over it. You don’t want it to be melodramatic. This is a book about female survival so it needed to focus on resilience and not just the dark side of relationships.

THE BOOK SPANS THE 20 YEARS BETWEEN THE 1950S AND 1970S, HOW DO YOU THINK THE STORY WOULD BE DIFFERENT IF IT TOOK PLACE IN THE LAST TWO DECADES?

With social media now, I think my mother’s character would have gotten more help. When my mom was screaming at nights while she was being abused, people couldn’t do anything. Not everyone had a phone. Today, there is such an ease of communication and instantaneous support. My father too might have been able to get some help with his alcoholism because attitudes have changed in that regard as well. There is greater understanding of it as a disease and not simply a choice or lack of control.

IS THERE A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE THAT YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO READ THIS BOOK?

In my heart I would really love this book to be in the schools. So far it’s mainly adults buying the book, but there are definitely topics that will appeal to youths. Subjects I plucked from my own adolescence—loving someone but being independent, dealing with the public struggles of your parents… These elements of the story could have been a book on their own. But essentially it’s about how women overcome, and that’s a great message for girls—and guys—to read. My dream for A Way to Escape is that it is required reading in high school.