Are You in the February Flats?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Later this week we'll talk about Valentine's Day, so keep your Valentine's stuff until then. But remember, however many years ago it was for you, those days in February when you were in college or high school? Those dank freezing days-- well wait, I'm remembering Indiana and Ohio, your experiences may be different—of that progression from the holidays in December and the new year in January and then we were into.. The flats.

 

That's what we called it in college, I'm remembering now, the February Flats. Where there was just... nothing.

 

The wonderful Jacqueline Faber takes us into dark academia this February-- and isn't all academia dark in February?  See what she has to say about her debut (yay!)THE DEPARTMENT, and then think about your own academic Februarys. And we'll talk on the other side.

 

Oh, and a copy of THE DEPARTMENT to one lucky commenter! (And look at that gorgeous noir-y cover!)

 

 

The Season of Love…and Bitter Cold

by Jacqueline Faber

 

If The Department is a love story, it’s one that will break your heart.

I couldn’t pick a better month to launch my dark academic thriller than February — a month that celebrates the wild exuberance of love, while sending (literal) shivers down the spine. February is the no-man’s-land of winter, spring still impossibly out of reach, fall but a distant memory. It’s the absolutely perfect time to introduce my novel to the world.

 

On the surface, The Department is about a college girl, Lucia, who goes missing one afternoon. From the outside, she appears reckless, courting danger in all sorts of complicated ways. But she’s running from something, which won’t let her go. When Neil, a jaded philosophy professor at her university, learns of her disappearance, he feels drawn to it for reasons that are embedded in his own past. The more he learns about Lucia, the more obsessed he becomes, until his unsanctioned, amateur sleuthing takes a sharp turn. Suddenly, he must confront the shocking secrets of his own academic department, raising suspicion about his closest friends and colleagues.

 

Underneath this fast-paced whodunit, however, The Department is really a story about how we live with our losses, navigate the pain of the past, and attempt to transcend our own inner tumult.

Yet, when I sat down to write this piece, reflecting on its connection to the month of February, it occurred to me that something else is at work, too. At the heart of my book, beneath even this feverish exploration of trauma, is a fundamental longing for human connection, that ever-present search for love — propitious or ill-fated — that drives us all.

 

As we round the bend toward Valentine’s Day, I find myself reflecting on the way that this occasion elicits such big feelings in people. A holiday that is maligned for its kitchy Hallmark trappings and unrestrained consumerist fantasies. But also a commemoration of our deepest and most abiding human need.

There is no confusing my provocative, dark thriller for a cozy Valentine’s read. And yet, in the way that it speaks to our longings, our loneliness, and our existential hunger to be seen and understood, it feels entirely apropos.

 

Whether February has you retreating to the couch with a gothic horror novel, seeking comfort in friends and family, or professing your undying love, I hope you feel adored this holiday season.

 

Did you ever have a crush on someone in college? What were your academic Februarys like?

 

HANK: Ohh, yes, I had several big crushes in college! The most amusing of them was Henry V. Yes, somehow, I read my Shakespeare, and fell madly in love with the dashing Henry, who evolved into a dashing and brave and romantic hero. I used to dream about him.

I will never talk about this again, but there you have it.

 

How about you Reds and readers? And remember, a copy of Jacqueline’s intense THE DEPARTMENT to one lucky commenter!

 

(And pssst. Breaking news! Jacqueline will join us in The Back Room on March 9, with Tess Gerritsen, Pam Jenoff, and Gigi Pandian! Details coming soon!)

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Philosophy professor Neil Weber can’t think of one good reason to get up in the morning. His wife has left him, his academic research has sputtered, and the prospect of tenure is more remote than ever.

Until Lucia Vanotti disappears.

A college student at the Southern university where Neil teaches, Lucia has a secret of her own—one that haunts her relationships and leads to destructive, reckless behavior. When Neil is drawn into the mystery of her disappearance, he finds himself suddenly relevant again. But at what cost? Each clue pulls him deeper into Lucia' s dark past, but also into the hidden lives of his closest friends and colleagues.

What drove Lucia to risk everything? And why does Neil, a professor who hardly knew her, care to find her? From campus classrooms to sex dens to backwoods hideaways, The Department shows the world through the eyes of Lucia and Neil as they descend into obsession, delusion, and the dangerous terrain of memory—uncovering the trauma that drives them to behave in ways even they themselves could never have predicted.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jacqueline Faber holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University and has taught at New York University. Her work explores questions about memory, loss, language, and desire. Steeped in philosophical, psychological, and literary themes, her writing is grounded in studies of character. She lives with her family in Los Angeles. The Department is her debut novel. Connect with Jacqueline online at jacquelinefaber.com and Instagram at @jaxfaber.