Our January N&G Book Club Pick was Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. This was such a sweet book to read in the middle of the pandemic. It’s about a horse who runs away to live in Paris, and no one questions the thoroughbred living in the city. I loved the book because one of the themes was to not make things more complicated than they are—it was a nice reminder after a complicated year.

It was a pleasure talking to Jane. Animals and nature really seem to inspire her writing process, and she lit up when we started talking about horses. As I’m a lover of nature and animals as well, we had a lot in common. I hope you’ll watch our full conversation in the video below. And then pick up a copy of Perestroika in Paris if you haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet.