Jesse Q. Sutanto--author of the YA thriller The Obsession; the middle-grade fantasy novel Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit; and the debut adult novel Dial A for Aunties, which is being adapted by Netflix into a film--discusses with Eve and Julie the cultural and familial components of her work. They talk about how killing off a (fictional!) blind date gave Jesse the distance she needed to write about her family, why a feast might be forthcoming in a time of emergency, and how Jesse ensured that authenticity overrode stereotyping when she wrote about her Chinese-Indonesian-American family. Jesse, a former wedding photographer, also lifts the veil on the pervasiveness of groomzillas.
Dial A for Aunties
"Sutanto brilliantly infuses comedy and culture into the unpredictable rom-com/murder mystery mashup as Meddy navigates familial duty, possible arrest and a groomzilla. I laughed out loud and you will too.”—USA Today (four-star review)
Go Deeper
Dial A for Aunties, by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The Obsession, by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit, by Jesse Q. Sutanto
My Struggle, by Karl Knausgard
Ep. 58 - “Plundering Lovely, Messy, Family Stories” ft. Menachem Kaiser
Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure, by Menachem Kaiser
Ep. 50 - “It’s Time to Rethink the Way We Tell Stories” ft. Matthew Salesses
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping, by Matthew Salesses
Ep. 57 - “When Fiction Is More Personal Than Memoir” ft. Paula McLain