Need a last-minute gift for Father’s Day? Consider gifting a copy of Hidden Falls, the new, debut novel from author Kevin Myers. While Hidden Falls is a literary fiction novel, Peter Rock (author of My Abandonment and The Night Swimmers) described it perfectly: “Hidden Falls is many books in one—replete with humor, it’s also a thriller, a love story (or two!), a series of mysteries, a deep reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons, and a demonstration of how the past haunts the present.”
In honor of Father’s Day, we spoke with Myers to discuss the book, his writing process, and how his own relationship with his father inspired the novel.
BB: Hidden Falls is your first book (though certainly not your last). What was the process like of writing the first book?
KM: Hidden Falls was actually my second novel manuscript. My first manuscript was never published; I read it recently and understand why. It felt like an imitation of an old British man’s writing. It was stiff and formal. I made all the obvious choices. With Hidden Falls, I just listened to my own voice, stayed true to the characters, and gave them room to explore. I don’t follow an outline when I write, I chart a course for the characters’ development. Not to get deep into the weeds, but that process brought the book to places I didn’t predict. It makes writing an act of discovery and I think it made the book far more interesting and fun to read.
Publishing, however, was a fascinating trip! When I was a standup comic, I’d write a joke and tell it to an audience within a period of days. If it didn’t work, I’d change it or toss it out. It takes so long to write a novel and very few people provide feedback while it’s in process, but then it’s just done. You send the publisher all these words that you’ve been rearranging for years, and they send you back something that looks like a book. It’s a surreal moment when time stops, or at least time stops for your manuscript. It’s no longer a living idea; it’s a tangible thing that’s become set in time. There’s no more rearranging the words. It’s very exciting but a little bit scary.
BB: Among other themes, Hidden Falls is about the complexities of father-son relationships. How do you think both fathers and sons will be able to relate to the main character, Michael Quinn, and the relationship he has with his father?
KM: The father-son relationships are really at the heart of the book. Michael struggles to be closer to his teenage son while lamenting the distance in his relationship with his father. There are three generations of Quinn men who all grew-up with different societal expectations and pressures, who are trying to understand where they fit in the world but also where they fit into each other’s lives. There are universal themes of identity and family dynamics, but where Michael’s exploration takes him is anything but universal. I think ultimately, Hidden Falls is a funny, very relatable book about relationships that is wrapped inside a thriller. I think it’s a book everyone will have a lot of fun reading.
BB: How much of your own relationship with your father/son inspired the book?
KM: I have a closer relationship with my children than Michael has with his son, but a much more distant relationship with my father. For most of my life, I was much closer to my stepfather. He was a great role model for me growing-up, very caring and generous, and engaged in a way my birth father was not. After my parents divorced, my father’s interest in his kids waxed and waned quite a bit, mostly waned. Michael has a pretty steady relationship with his dad, but their emotional connection is limited to their feelings about Boston sports teams. That was certainly inspired by my relationship with my father. I can’t think of more than five conversations I’ve had with him in my lifetime that didn’t involve some connection to sports. I’m glad we had that because it gave us something.
The relationships in the book certainly draw from my own experience, but Michael’s relationship with his father is inspired more by the one I wish I had with my father.
BB: Taking place in Boston, the Red Sox play an important role in the lives of the characters in Hidden Falls, which is apparent from the iconic Citgo sign featured on the front cover. What did the Red Sox (and coincidentally, the Citgo sign) symbolize to you growing up in Boston?
KM: Fenway Park is one of the great cathedrals of baseball. Its defining feature is the Green Monster, a giant wall behind left field and beyond the wall is the Citgo sign. Every time a home run sails over the Monst’ah, you see the Citgo sign. It’s so strongly associated with the Red Sox that it’s like a second logo. When we’d go to the games, we’d usually take the T to Kenmore Square station. As soon as we got to the street level—there it was illuminating the skyline. The only thing I can compare it to is seeing the Hollywood sign. It’s iconic, kitschy, and magical. Maybe it’s because I watched most of the games on a 12” black & white TV as a kid, but I was always struck by its enormity and the brilliant red triangle. The sign is animated so the background lights come on and off, and then the red triangle collapses into the middle and expands back out, and then the whole thing blinks. When you see it, there’s no mistaking you’re in Boston. It conjures so many great, but also heartbreaking, moments.
In the book, the story hinges on the Red Sox 2004 World Series victory. That was the year that the Sox reversed the Curse of the Bambino. They hadn’t won a championship in 86 years, since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. For decades, they were perennially stealing defeat from the jaws of victory in ways that made it easy to think the team was truly cursed. The fact that they were always so close to the ring without ever getting one, made them even more endearing. Honestly, to let the world in on a little secret, Sox fans reveled in those collapses. It gave us epic stories of defeat. Being a Sox fan felt like something you’d earned from years of hardship. There are a lot of Irish Catholics in Boston and we love our misery.
As a kid, to say sports were important to me is like saying water is important to a fish. Without a strong male role model in my early life, I can’t overstate the pivotal role Boston sports figures played in my childhood development. Players like Luis Tiant, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, and Bill Lee, in my mind, existed somewhere between mythological figures and superheroes. That they could have been born of human parents and have lives outside of the ballfield seemed entirely improbable. The Celtics and Red Sox were my whole world.
BB: If you could be asked any question about the book, what would it be, and what is your answer?
KM: Q: Where shall we park the dump truck filled with your royalties?
A: The backyard is fine.
Kidding. I don’t want to give away too much, but it has to do with the significance of Hidden Falls—the place(s) in the book. Hidden Falls is introduced as a tourist trap that catches ten-year-old Michael’s attention. It starts off as a place described in a brochure; then a place in Michael’s imagination; and then a destination for Michael and his father. Then it becomes a place he passes when he’s lost in the woods; then the actual place from the brochure; then it becomes the setting for a story that he and his father both repeat often; then it becomes a destination for Michael and his son, and then a place where he and his father eventually meet near the climax of the book. But it’s never the same place. It is only after it is stripped of the weight of expectations and desire that it becomes the thing Michael had been seeking.
BB: From your perspective, what makes Hidden Falls a great gift for dads this Father’s Day?
KM: First off, books are always a thoughtful gift. Secondly, dads are impossible to shop for. I’m a dad and I know this to be true. I have no idea what I want for Father’s Day. Pro Tip: if you’re thinking of getting your dad a gadget for his hobby, I promise you that if he doesn’t have it — it’s because he doesn’t want it. So, by process of elimination, Hidden Falls is the only gift to get your dad this year, or maybe every year… But seriously, when you strip away the thriller, and the humor, it’s about a man looking for a deeper connection to his father and son. Hidden Falls is about love, and what better gift to give your dad than a book that’s going to guilt him into wanting to show you how much he loves you. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
While the hardcover version of Hidden Falls doesn’t come out until July 15th, the e-book is available now from Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple Books. Choose the gift option to have the e-book sent directly to your dad’s device, just in time for Father’s Day.