Andromeda Romano-Lax's "What Boys Learn"

Born in Chicago and now a resident of Vancouver Island, Canada, Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and chosen as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year. Her next four novels, The Detour, Behave (an Amazon Book of the Month), Plum Rains (winner of the Sunburst Award), and Annie and the Wolves (a Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of the Year) reflect her diverse interest in the arts, history, science, and technology, as well as her love of travel and her time spent living abroad. Starting with The Deepest Lake (a Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick and Amazon Book of the Month) and continuing with her new novel, What Boys Learn, Romano-Lax has swerved into the world of suspense fiction, although she continues to write historical and speculative fiction as well.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of What Boys Learn:

To play Abby, my single mother character worried about whether her teenage son was involved in the deaths of two schoolmates, I nominate Elizabeth Olsen (Eternity, WandaVision, Avengers, Love & Death). Abby is struggling, stressed-out, and hopefully sympathetic. She also has a brother in prison and secrets in her past. Ideally, the reader will understand most of her choices yet still wonder if they know the whole story. Olsen manages to pack emotional nuances into every performance. She can be charming, sly, sincere, solemn, or murderous. If she won’t play Abby, I am willing to keep writing characters until we hit upon one that excites her. (Kidding, but I really do love Olsen.)

To play Benjamin, I need a young actor who hold his cards close to his chest—an actor who can seem troubled, duplicitous, nonconformist, intelligent, and either guilty or non-guilty. The Stranger Things actors are getting older but I still think one of the youngest, Noah Schnapp, who played Will Byers, could pull it off. If not him, someone like him—better yet if he’s a complete unknown.

Visit Andromeda Romano-Lax's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Spanish Bow.

The Page 69 Test: The Detour.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax (February 2012).

The Page 69 Test: What Boys Learn.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax.

--Marshal Zeringue