SOURCE: Brown, Rosellen, and Carla Seaquist. “Belles Lettres Interview: Rosellen Brown.” Belles Lettres 8, no. 2 (winter 1992): 34-9.

In the following interview, Brown discusses the thematic focus of and reasons behind her writing Before and After.

“Before I answer your challenging questions,” writes Ms. Brown, “I need to try to explain a little my understanding of what I as a novelist am attempting to do. Many of your questions assume a prescriptive attitude on my part, an attitude of approval for the responses of my characters or for the outcomes of their actions. I, on the other hand, feel that my responsibility is to present a set of characters who act and respond realistically—whether I “approve” of what they do or say or think is quite beside the point. I know it's not quite the same because an actor doesn't originate the lines he or she says and thus...