Interview with Joanne O'Sullivan
Author of Between Two Skies
Joanne O’Sullivan’s debut novel, Between Two Skies, features Evangeline Riley, a sixteen-year-old girl who loves her hometown, Bayou Perdu. She spends most of her time on her boat with her father, until Evangeline’s entire world is flooded. Hurricane Katrina forces Evangeline’s family to evacuate Bayou Perdu and leave everything behind. O’Sullivan’s novel is a sweet and heart-breaking tale of family, love, and recovering what’s lost.
I was honored to meet with Joanne to discuss her first novel, the writing process, and how she crafted her work.
SRJ: I wanted to start with how you captured the setting. The sense of place I get from this novel is strong and vivid. Are you from New Orleans?
JOS: I went to college at Loyola. When Katrina happened, I was almost obsessively checking what was going on. I signed up to go down and work with that community, but then I found out I was pregnant with my son, and I couldn’t go. “You might be exposed to mold and things that can be damaging,” my doctor said. So, because I couldn’t be there, I started writing about it instead. I started reading