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Sara Gruen

Goodreads Author

Born

Vancouver, Canada

Website

http://www.saragruen.com

Twitter

saragruen

Genre

Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

Member Since

July 2015

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/saragruen

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Sara Gruen is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of five novels: AT THE WATER'S EDGE, APE HOUSE, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, RIDING LESSONS, and FLYING CHANGES. Her works have been translated into forty-three languages, and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was adapted into a major motion picture in 2011 starring Reese Witherspoon, Rob Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz, and then into a smash Broadway musical, currently running at the Imperial Theatre, written by Rick Elice and PigPen Theatre Co. and directed by Jessica Stone.

She lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, along with their dogs, cats, horses, birds, and the world’s fussiest goat. ...more

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If you could live in another period of time, when would it be? Why?

Sara Gruen I'd love to live temporarily in all kinds of different time periods (if I got to pick and choose my circumstances, of course--everyone kind of assumes…moreI'd love to live temporarily in all kinds of different time periods (if I got to pick and choose my circumstances, of course--everyone kind of assumes that if they went back in time they'd be a Lady Mary and not a Daisy in the kitchen, but the reality is most of us would have been Daisy in the kitchen or a fish wife on the docks). But my completely non-exciting answer is that I would choose to live in the here and now, because I would not have made it to my first birthday without antibiotics, and I think things like central heating, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and kitchen/laundry appliances are most excellent. I cannot imagine going outside and stirring a great pot of boiling lye once a week to do the family's laundry, but I can tell you that my tolerance for dirty clothes would be a lot higher. (less)

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What is your research process like, and how do you check your work for historical accuracy? Can you describe an instance when you decided, for dramatic or plot purposes, it was better to overlook historical precedent?

Sara Gruen Research is one of my very favorite parts of the writing process. It’s also why you’ll never see me set a book in Sudbury, Ontario, in the middle of w…moreResearch is one of my very favorite parts of the writing process. It’s also why you’ll never see me set a book in Sudbury, Ontario, in the middle of winter!

I love that I can find something that fascinates me--and that I hope will fascinate others--and immerse myself in it until I feel I know it well enough to write not just about it but from within it, if that makes sense. I have to create a fictional world in my head that I pass into when I'm writing, and because I also hope to transport readers there, all the details have to be in place. Although I no longer enter the world of "At the Water's Edge" to write, I still know every cobweb in the Fraser Arms, every floorboard that creaks, the earthy, oppressive smell of the Anderson Shelter.

I incorporate real incidents into my novels all the time. It's the interesting little nuggets I've never heard of that fascinate me the most, and I think readers like taking away odd little bits of knowledge as well. It's also true that when I'm blending fact with fiction, sometimes the lines do blur. If I want to include something historical that almost works but not quite, I remind myself that I’m a novelist and can take a little creative license. For example, in “At the Water’s Edge,” I incorporated every Nessie sighting that happened up to the time of the novel, and reimagined the most famous one, the “Surgeon’s Photo,” as the Colonel’s photo in my book. I also incorporated a few wartime incidents, like the Royal Observer Corps sighting of the monster and the bombing in Foyers, although in both cases I changed the year.

I’m very careful about accuracy, and during my initial research make contacts with museums, historians, and others so I can ask questions and verify things that come up as I'm writing the story. I also have a point person to read the final text for accuracy. I can’t say history was my thing in school, because it seemed dry and somehow disconnected from real life, but now that I’m learning about it by unearthing WWII installations, unwittingly tromping around among undetonated 70-year-old bombs, and crawling under abandoned circus wagons, it feels very much alive! (less)

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Sara Gruen’s books

Average rating: 4.07 · 1,764,497 ratings · 78,261 reviews · 19 distinct works • Similar authors

	Water for Elephants 4.11 avg rating — 1,633,198 ratings — published 2006 — 273 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	At the Water's Edge 3.68 avg rating — 82,665 ratings — published 2015 — 67 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ape House 3.51 avg rating — 29,897 ratings — published 2010 — 76 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Riding Lessons (Riding Lessons, #1) 3.47 avg rating — 11,404 ratings — published 2004 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flying Changes (Riding Lessons, #2) 3.73 avg rating — 7,194 ratings — published 2004 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sara Gruen Collection: Water for Elephants - At the Water's Edge - Ape House 4.34 avg rating — 151 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sara Gruen Collection! 4 Books Pack Set : Water for Elephants, Ape House, Riding Lessons, Flying Changes 4.06 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 2005	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Water for Elephants really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	もう一度あの馬に乗って really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Houghton Mifflin Reading: Practice Expeditions Level 5 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Sara Gruen

Riding Lessons (2 books)
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Sara Gruen (Goodreads Author)

3.57 avg rating — 18,598 ratings

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Interview with Sara Gruen

A Philadelphia socialite and her husband hunt Scotland's Loch Ness monster in At the Water's Edge, a new World War II-era novel from the author of...

Polls

January: BOTM Side Reads

At the Water's Edge

by Sara Gruen

15 votes, 25.4%

Yes Please

by Amy Poehler

14 votes, 23.7%

Secrets of a Charmed Life

by Susan Meissner

10 votes, 16.9%

All the Bright Places

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9 votes, 15.3%

Girl at War

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8 votes, 13.6%

Raven Black

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3 votes, 5.1%

59 total votes

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