Joanna Margaret, THE BEQUEST: A Dark Academia Thriller

Zibby interviews art historian and debut author Joanna Margaret about The Bequest, a richly atmospheric thriller about an American Ph.D. student who moves to Scotland and finds herself embroiled in a 450-year-old mystery. Joanna talks about her own trajectory from Ph.D. student to archival historian and writer (this book is based on a 16th-century Italian letter she decoded herself!), her experience as Joyce Carol Oates’ MFA student, and the challenge of writing such a complex story. The two also chat about the importance of brick-and-mortar bookstores (Zibby is opening one in LA!!!), and Joanna reveals the details of her next project.