Maggie Shipstead discusses her novel, “Astonish Me.” Discover all the Maggie Shipstead books, including the shortlisted Booker Prize novel “Great Circle.”

I’m so excited to discuss one of my favorite literary fiction novel’s, Astonish Me.   

Shipstead’s ability to write character-driven pieces makes this author’s writing such a treat.  

When you are done with her books, it is as though you know her characters inside and out. 

With a backdrop of ballet and what life is like to be a ballerina, the novel immediately pulled me in until the final pages.

Astonish Me Book Synopsis

In this book, a young American dancer named Joan decides to help a Soviet ballet star, the great Arslan Rusakov, defect in 1975. 

Although they had a passionate love affair, Arslan soon moved on to other things, and Joan realized that she was destined to remain in the background onstage and off.

After her relationship with Arslan ends,  Joan decides to take her life in a different direction and marry the man that had always been in love with her, raises their son, and leaves the ballet for a quiet suburban life. 

However, Joan soon realizes that their son, Harry,  is a prodigy in more ways than one.

Through this discovery, Joan is pulled back into the world of ballet and Arslan’s life again.

Be sure to scroll down for a list of all the Maggie Shipstead books in order.

Maggie Shipstead Exclusive Interview On Astonish Me

This novel is so different from your first novel, Seating Arrangements. Still, the one element I found similar was your ability to write well-developed character-driven plots. 

Have your stories always been very character-driven, and how do you shape them so well?

Well, thank you! I’m glad you think so. 

My relationships with characters vary from project to project. 

Seating Arrangements exists pretty much only because I had what I’d describe as strong chemistry with the protagonist, Winn Van Meter, who is the 59-year-old father of a pregnant bride. 

He’s nothing like me as a person–I’m female, 30, from California, and no one would accuse me of being emotionally withholding–but I thought the idea of him was interesting and also like I understood him. 

The book started as a short story, but I felt I had lots more to say about Winn and also like I knew what he would do or say in almost any situation. 

As I expanded the story into a novel, I incorporated more characters’ perspectives, too.

Astonish Me was a little different in that I didn’t conceive of Joan as a fully-formed person in the same way as Winn, but I started out wanting to write about someone who’s very talented (enough to be in a major ballet company) but who will never be the star she wants to be. 

So in a way, Joan evolved out of the circumstances of her life–the incredible discipline needed to be a dancer, the frustration of encountering her own limitations, the stubbornness she has about her doomed love affair with a Soviet superstar dancer. 

Sometimes when I’m having trouble writing, the problem is that I’m not connecting with my characters, and I’ll take some time to just stop and close my eyes and try to actually engage with these imaginary people. 

Being a novelist is kind of a weird job in that way.

As a kid, I took ballet, so I was captivated by this story.

Did you also do ballet? How did you do your research for this setting for your book?

I did ballet very, very briefly–for a year when I was five. 

But my mother and I both love to watch ballet, and she took me to about four performances a year from kindergarten until I left for college. 

She danced more than I did and knew a ton about ballet, so I learned a lot from her over the years. 

I wrote Astonish Me mostly over five months while I was traveling abroad, and I dragged a hardback ballet reference book around with me but also relied heavily on the internet. 

I have to say that YouTube is an incredible resource for dance.

I watched multiple versions of every variation I wrote about, and some companies, especially New York City Ballet and The Royal Ballet, post lots of backstage videos of rehearsal and class online, which I found incredibly helpful. 

I watched full-length documentaries as well and read interviews with dancers and things like that. 

In the end, though, it was all a bit of a leap of imagination because I’m never ever going to know what it’s like to exist in a dancer’s body.

It can be very difficult, definitely. 

Many technical decisions go into figuring out the chronology of any narrative and a boggling, infinite number of places and times you can take the story at any moment. 

So that can be overwhelming. 

The structure of Astonish Me, though, for some reason, evolved organically from the beginning.

I would write along chronologically, and then, when I got to a point in the story where I felt like a piece of information was missing, I would jump back in time to fill in the gap. 

The book is written in the present tense, and it’s meant to feel immediate and episodic, sort of like a ballet.

In the book, Joan gives up on her dream of being a ballerina because she believes she isn’t good enough to be a prima ballerina.

Did you ever give up on anything because you didn’t think you could be the best?

When I was in high school and for some years afterward, I was a really serious horseback rider. 

I trained most days and had two horses I was obsessed with and missed a lot of school to compete, but I wasn’t particularly talented. 

I really, really, really wanted to qualify for certain events that took place at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden or at another big show in D.C., but I never did.

I have to say, as frustrating as that experience was, I think it was ultimately good for me to understand that the process was worthwhile, even if I had absolutely no chance of ever being the best.

I liked spending time with horses, and I liked the pursuit of a physical skill and the excitement of competing, especially when I won, which did happen occasionally. 

And, generally, the idea of being the best is tricky, right? 

I hope I mostly try to do the best I can.

If you could tell anyone to read one book (other than your own), what would that book be?

I just finished reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which I loved. 

That’s the book I’m talking up to everyone right now.

What do you have in store for us with your next writing project?

I’m working on a third novel–about a female pilot after World War II–and I have a bunch of short stories I’d like to finish.

Editor’s Note: She finished that project and it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Learn more about Great Circle in our book list below.

New to Maggie Shipstead? Here are some answers to your most frequently asked questions!

What are the best Maggie Shipstead books?

Astonish Me was my favorite book by the author, but I still need to read Great Circle. It is on my reading bucket list this year. 

Her highest-rated novel on GoodReads is, by far, Great Circle.

What Maggie Shipstead Movies Are Coming Out?

Former Lionsgate executive Erik Feig’s production company, Picturestart, is developing a series adaptation of Maggie Shipstead’s novel Great Circle. 

Picturestart won the rights to the book in a competitive bidding war and plans to have Shipstead serve as an executive producer while seeking a writer to adapt the novel into a series.

Is it necessary to read the books in a specific order?

No, each book is a standalone story.

What are the Maggie Shipstead books in the order published?

Seating Arrangements (2012)

Astonish Me (2014)

Great Circle (2021)

You Have a Friend in 10A: Stories (2022)

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