with Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta
Trope: The Chosen One
Guests: Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta
Book: Feast While You Can, Simon & Schuster, 2024
Australian writer Mikaella Clements and British writer Onjuli Datta are the co-authors of Feast While You Can and The View Was Exhausting. Between them, their writing has been published in the New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, White Review, Slate and more. They are married and live in Berlin.
Mik and Onj brought us the trope, ‘The Chosen One’, wherein one (or more) character(s) have been chosen by some force and they are now the only ones capable of resolving the plot. Examples of this trope include Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Tris Prior in Divergent.
They talk about their book Feast While You Can, a horror novel that follows Angelina Sicco, the Sicco girl of her generation, in her sleepy hometown of Cadenze. After a memorable family party, Angelina leaves one of the local caves possessed by the famous monster of Cadenze. It rises hungry for Angelina’s thoughts, memories, and emotions. The only thing that can stop it seems to be Jagvi, Angelina’s brother’s ex: serious, beautiful, and unwilling to let the monster consume Angelina.
Feast While You Can is available at a bookstore near you!