The Forgotten Hours(97)

Some years ago, I heard Colum McCann talk about “radical empathy,” and it really stuck with me. Radical empathy happens when we tell each other’s stories, he says; it allows us to know each other in spite of our differences. All good, right? But blind empathy is often destructive and unearned. That’s why writers like me spend years on our books: we’re working hard to untangle and understand these human impulses.

I thought about this a lot over the years I taught writing in prisons. Every human being has a story, and there’s power both in the telling and in the listening. And yet—where do right and wrong fit into the picture? Is there a limit to empathy and loyalty?

AML: What do you most hope readers take away from the experience of reading The Forgotten Hours?

KS: My mission is pretty simple: I want readers to see how this story might relate in various ways to their own lives and draw strength from it.