Answers With: Author Thao Thai
"The focus and time spent inside a book often yields sneaky revelations that I, in my infinite stubbornness, might have trouble taking from another source."
Answers With is a monthly series featuring the best kind of people, book people! I’ll be talking with readers I admire, from authors to booksellers and bookstagramers, all about where they find answers — in the pages, a movie, song, comfort watch, or dessert. This series is free for now, but if you like, consider pledging a subscription — and supporting the interviewees work!
One of my favorite things about reading is being transported to another place. Growing up, my family didn’t travel much so books were the way I experienced places different from my small Ohio town. When the pandemic had us confined to our homes, I turned to books as an escape. This time of year, when the cold and gray days blend together, a book set in a summery locale provides relief like sunshine on my face.
Today’s guest, Thao Thai, is one of my favorite writers when it comes to transporting readers. She writes mesmerizing scenery that strengthens the emotional connection to her complex characters. Her debut, Banyan Moon, takes you to the Florida swampland to a Gothic manor and banyan tree that play central roles along with three women telling their intergenerational family story. Her latest, Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour, (under pen name Nora Nguyen) transports you to Vietnam as her characters navigate romance and second chances. Experiencing the tour along with them, you’ll coast along waterfalls and hike step-by-step into caves, and your mouth will water from the meal descriptions. I’m so grateful for her immersive books and if you haven’t read them, I hope you’ll add them to the top of your TBR.
Read on for her lovely answers, including: her current comfort watch, the song that often plays in her head, advice for creativity, and a reading recommendation.
Where do you turn to most for answers? Books, cooking, family time?
I love this question! It’s probably no surprise, but I find that books usually offer me the most clarity and in a way that I can easily absorb. I’m slow in many ways—it takes awhile for a lesson to sink in for me. The focus and time spent inside a book often yields sneaky revelations that I, in my infinite stubbornness, might have trouble taking from another source. But of course, time with my husband and daughter are both precious and full of their own heart-answers. My family reminds me of the why, where books often give me access to the how.
What’s your go-to comfort watch?
I don’t have a specific movie or show I turn to, but right now, I’m going through a bit of an obsession with period pieces—Downton Abbey, Jane Austen adaptations, Mary Shelley. It’s been a tough start to the year, as many of us can attest to, and the escapism of being a different (but no less fraught) moment in time is a reminder to me that history is cyclical. Darkness must be followed by light; humanity thrives through will and hard choices.
Is there a particular lyric, or a quote from a movie, TV or book quote that runs through your mind often or has become part of your unique Thao language?
What a sweet way of putting it; Thao language! It’s true that we all have our own specific vernacular. I often hear Dylan’s “Forever Young” in my mind. I grew up longing for a clear moral authority of some sort—a guide toward internal goodness. To this day, I look for that rare and unbroken faith in humanity. The lyrics of the song soothe me in the place where my child-self still sits, waiting for the right words:
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you
Your food writing has been a favorite of mine for years, beautifully sharing how food connects you to family. Your fiction work also focuses on feelings around familial connections. Do you approach them differently?
Thank you so much! No, I think both sorts of writing—creative nonfiction and fiction— are rooted in my explorations of the threads that bind us. Food is an immediately available thread, especially in households like mine, where love was best expressed in nonverbal ways. What I hope all my writing conveys is the nuance of familial relationships. I’ve never been drawn toward pat answers, and for me, the careful and painstaking work of untangling history usually reveals the true tenor of one’s relationships.
Did becoming a published author change you as a reader at all?
No, not in any palpable way. While I am more aware of craft choices that authors make on the page, I’ve been a reader for far longer than I’ve been a writer, so it’s easy for me to set aside the mechanics of writing in order to lose myself in the story. Mostly, knowing how much work and how many hands lay within a published book, leads to a greater sense of appreciation for the final product.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to tap into their creativity more?
Two pieces of advice in conjunction with one another:
Consume media that surprises you. When I’m stuck, I find that dipping my toe into another field leads me to unexpected paths. I’ll spend a few hours at an art museum or listen to a composition I hadn’t heard before or go to a movie that I might not typically be drawn to. So much of the work for a creative person happens in the marinating phase, where we let the art and voices of others become a part of us. Leave yourself vulnerable to wonder, always.
Stay in your body. Creativity can’t be separated from the physical act of being in the world. Take walks through the woods, sink into a bath, curl up with your cat, inhale the aromas of a simmering skillet on the stove. Creativity is about observing; it’s one of the greatest gifts we have. Don’t take your awareness for granted.
What was your favorite book last year? Or, what's next on your list?
Last year was a stunning one for books! I adored Playground by Richard Powers. The way he writes about the natural world, and humans’ reliance on it, moves me immeasurably. All of his works are guided by a sterling ethical compass.
Do you have a favorite winter recipe?
Is it boring to say oatmeal?* There are so many rich and creative dishes out there, and I love experimenting with them, but when it’s truly frigid outside, I only want a warm bowl of steel-cut oats, topped with apples sauteed in cinnamon and butter, with a scattering of chopped walnuts on top. I’ve always found that the most bracing and memorable meals are the ones you have over and over again. They require a sense of commitment and longevity that outlasts all others.
*(No! I look forward to my cozy oatmeal and this topping is one of my favorites too.)
Connect with Thao: On Instagram, her newsletter
, and website.I hope you enjoyed this interview and a huge thank you to Thao for sharing her answers!
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