My new book The Heights comes out next month and I'm really excited about it. It's a retelling of Wuthering Heights, set in San Francisco. Heathcliff (named in Henry in my novel) and Catherine are teenagers and I chose to tell it in alternating first person from each of their points of view. Since the original was written in third person, from the point of view of an observing character, I thought this was a way to bring something new to the story.
As I was reading Bronte's book, I found myself imagining what Catherine and Heathcliff were thinking. She wrote it in such a way that you can't help but do that. The voices I gave them are what I imagined their inner personalities be like.
The challenge was to get their voices to be very distinct. They both have such unique perspectives and it had to come through in the way they thought. It became almost like writing two novels at once. I went through many drafts of rearranging things and breaking things down. It was frustrating, but by the end of it, I felt like I accomplished what I wanted to do.
It was a great feeling.
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