What’s not to love about the dramatic web of international espionage? The multi-talented writer (and lecturer in law at Columbia Law School) Lea Carpenter uses it as the eco-system for her third novel, Ilium. Its young English protagonist has an uneventful life in London until, on her 21st birthday, she becomes enamored with a mysterious, much-older man. Their marriage is only the first in a series of unexpected events that make for addictive reading. Carpenter’s immersive prose is a known quantity to her fans, who discovered an exciting new voice in the world of fiction when this former magazine editor published her debut, Eleven Days, in 2013. Carpenter is also a stylish presence in New York’s literary scene, and herewith, she shares her key components to the good life. —Ashley Baker
Airline: British Airways.
Airport: The little landing strip on Fishers Island. Wild, short, and incapable of accommodating anything too large.
Alibi: “One of the children has a math test and needs my help.”
App: Duolingo.
Bag: Métier.
Bedtime: Early.
Bike: A white Cervélo.
Car: If I had one, an old, restored Land Rover Defender.
Child: One who answers my texts.
Couple: Ned and Carroll Carpenter.
Date: A sports game with my husband.
Dream dress: I will know it when I see it.
Drive: To my childhood home at Christmastime.
Escape: Utah in winter; Italy in summer.
