Ally Condie talks with Hypable about her latest novel Atlantia, where deception and secrets drive a girl to discover the truth about the past and her family.
Tell us five random facts about yourself.
I saw Rihanna in the airport once. I don’t know how to whistle. I love going to new places but hate flying. I love watching the Olympics and got to attend them when they were held in Salt Lake City. I did a study abroad program in London and I go there whenever I can!
Describe your novel in five words.
Sisters, betrayal, murder, love, power.
This is a brand new world for you to explore. Was it difficult to transition to writing a wholly new place?
It was actually very fun to write a different world after staying in the same one for the three books of the Matched Trilogy. I think it helped that the world Atlantia is so different from the world in the Matched series — I had to build an entire underwater city from scratch, the mythology is different, etc. I had a great time with it.
Where did you get the idea for Atlantia, especially the idea of twins and for the Above and Below?
I first had the idea for the book when I was re-reading The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. In the real story (not the Disney version!) things are a lot darker, and one of the really dark aspects of the tale is that humans have souls but mermaids don’t. Even though I didn’t ever intend to use mermaids in Atlantia, I used that idea of one group of people being told they have souls and one group being told they do not (which also led to the idea of the Above and the Below). I also got the idea for twins from that story — there aren’t twins in The Little Mermaid, but she does have sisters and you sense that there is a true bond between them and a sorrow at being separated.
In Atlantia there are unique political, religious and cultural systems. How did you create them?
I created them by imagining a world in the future where we’ve polluted everything wayyyy too much to survive on land. I thought about caste systems, how it would likely be the rich and the powerful who got to live in the underwater city while others had to support them. Once I had those ideas in mind, I built everything around that and around Rio and her sister, Bay. The religion, especially, came about as the people in the book responded to their circumstances and surroundings.
Rio is a strong female character who has to come into her own after a devastating betrayal. When creating her character were there certain elements that you felt she had to have or did they develop as the story unfolded?
Rio came to me more fully-formed than most characters do — and at the same time, she was a bit of a mystery because she is also a character who holds things back. I did feel early on that she was smart, loyal, strong, and undervalued by everyone except for her own family (and even they didn’t always see what she was capable of doing). What surprised me was just how strong she was and how she had reserves of kindness and generosity even though so many people had treated her badly. I loved that she was always capable of love.
What one YA novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?
That’s a hard choice! I love so many books right now. But I’d have to go with Diary of A Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. What a gorgeous, brutal, hilarious book.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on another YA novel (of course!). This one is set in an entirely different universe than either the Matched Trilogy or Atlantia. It’s not dystopian. And it’s a book I’ve wanted to write for years, so it’s very fun to try it out.
Fill in the blank.
If I weren’t a writer I would be a high school English teacher. It was my job before I became a writer full-time and I loved it.
If I could have one supernatural power it would be to fly. I have had dreams about this since I was a little kid and I’m always so disappointed when I wake up.
My Hollywood crush is Benedict Cumberbatch. He’s just a little older than I am so it’s totally appropriate. I am a sucker for deep, beautiful voices.
To celebrate the release of Atlantia on October 28 we are giving away a finished copy and an Above necklace.
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