Colm Tóibín candidly describes the inspirations for the stories in his first collection, Mothers and Sons: Stories (Scribner). Sometimes a landscape is enough to trigger a story, sometimes an anecdote or a bit of family lore. Tóibín is unusually forthright in telling the story-behind-the-story, showing us how a work of fiction is made.
- Read an excerpt from Mothers and Sons.
Photo: Bruce Weber