A: She was a voice and a sensibility - a kind of young everywoman, I believed, at least.

Q: Did you find it easy to sustain her voice?

A: Well, sustaining her voice, when she is the narrator, is simply writing the novel. And, of course, as with all novels there were good days and bad days. But mostly, once I got going, I felt I knew her pretty well and enjoyed spending time with her. I felt sad to leave her at the end, frankly.

Q: The nanny is a stock literary figure. Were you conscious of the pitfalls in creating such a heroine?

A: There are pitfalls? Uh-oh. Now you tell me! I think the nanny/governess is a kind of tried and true narrative device. And, of course, I wanted to allude to “Jane Eyre’’ a little bit while writing this. So I feel I was operating in a kind of tradition, rather than employing a stock character.