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New Novel Explores A Bleak Version Of America’s Future

A map of the U.S. from Jacqui Castle's new novel, 'The Seclusion.'
Jacqui Castle
/
Inkshares

What if the United States built walls along its borders with Mexico and Canada? That is the premise of a new, young adult dystopian novel that imagines what an isolationist United States would look like in the year 2090. 

Western North Carolina-based freelance writer and journalist Jacqui Castle was looking for a way to get start writing fiction, so she turned to current events for inspiration. Donald Trump’s promise to build a wall became Castle’s jumping-off point for her book “The Seclusion” (Inkshares/2018).

The novel centers on two scientists who discover hidden contraband literature that makes them question what the government says about its history and outsiders. Host Frank Stasio talks to Castle about her transition from journalism to fiction. Castle will be at Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe in Asheville on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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