To read a Stewart O’Nan novel is to be immersed in a particular subculture with its own rules and limitations, and to watch the people in that group as they connect with each other and seek to make their way in a challenging world.

His latest novel, Evensong, focuses on the Humpty Dumpty Club, a group of older women in Pittsburgh who care for each other and help members of the community. Told in alternating viewpoints, the trials of Joan, Kitzi, Emily and Arlene as they age are handled with dignity and grace.  The women’s participation in the Anglican church’s evensong serves as an anchor and a respite to their challenges.

AUTHORLINK: Tell me about your apprenticeship as a creative writer. Did you have a mentor who offered advice that you can share with us?

O’NAN: I started writing on my own, in my basement after work, using John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction as my guide.  His explanations of point of view, psychic distance and sentence variation were revelations.  I was also reading as much as I could, taking out the O. Henry and Best American Short Stories collections, trying to figure out how stories worked.

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