That story is about two couples who have been friends for a long time and live with their teenage children on the same block. This is where Straub wanted her characters to live, because she thinks their story is not unique to New York.

I wanted them to exist in a New York City that a lot of people don't know exists, the quiet one.' you could be anywhere right now, and that's where I wanted my characters to be. 'Where are we right now? There's not a cloud in the sky,' Straub says. I wanted them to exist in a New York City that a lot of people don't know exists, the quiet one. You could be anywhere right now, and that's where I wanted my characters to be. The main drag is a busy shopping area - music blasts from passing cars - but turn off that street and suddenly you're in another world, of shady streets lined with big old clapboard and shingled houses set in blooming gardens. Then she thought of Ditmas Park, which is in Brooklyn, but not the Brooklyn you're thinking of. 'It seemed so not what I wanted to do, just 'cause who needs another book about Brooklyn,' she says wryly. She thought she would set it in her own neighborhood in Brooklyn - but she kind of hated that idea. She knew there would be a family in it, with a teenage son. Straub tells me she played around with the idea for this book for a long time. Her new one is Modern Lovers, and it's set in Brooklyn's Ditmas Park neighborhood, where we met up for a stroll. Her last book, The Vacationers, was a best-seller. But there's no hint of horror in Emma Straub's work her fiction tends more toward genial explorations of marriage and family and friendship. Her father is Peter Straub, a writer who specialized in the genre. How?Įmma Straub was raised in a house of horror - horror fiction, that is. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Straub at her dazzling best.Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Modern Lovers Author Emma Straub ' The Vacationers is a beautifully told story that walks the tightrope of family angst and connection with hilarity and truth.It's Ms. 'Charming and absorbing, this is a novel that demands to be read in long, satisfying gulps.' - Maggie Shipstead, author of Seating Arrangements 'Witty, big-hearted, and packed with wisdom, this novel is a breezy read that sneaks in its emotional wallops and leaves you smiling for days.' - Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

She's a natural talent and a gorgeous and witty storyteller, who makes each sentence look not only easy, but perfectly real.' - Elizabeth Gilbert 'I would read anything Emma Straub writes. A novel that is both a lot of fun to read and has plenty of insight into the marital bond and the human condition.' - Kirkus 'The pacing is quick but satisfying and the characters themselves feel genuinely complex, interesting, and knowledgeable.A pleasant, readable journey.' - Publishers Weekly

The vacationers by emma straub