Would readers be able to find a town like New Bern, Connecticut, if they traveled to New England?
MB: Absolutely. I live a little more than an hour from where Norman Rockwell had his studio, and I can tell you, if Rockwell were still alive, he’d still find plenty of scenes to paint in this part of the world. That’s why I’ve fallen in love with New England. BRC: What do you hope readers will understand about the sense of place in which you have set A SINGLE THREAD? MB: That community matters immensely. That happiness depends less on what we have or can buy than how we treat each other. And that nothing built by human hands will ever be one one-hundredth as beautiful as anything we see in nature. BRC: What is it about small towns, their inhabitants and their values that attract you? MB: I think people in small towns tend to be kind to each other — or at least polite. I suspect that has more to do with a lack of anonymity than any superiority of character. If you’re rude to people in a small town, everybody is going to know about it and pretty quickly. And I think that’s a good thin
