Have you ever had a pet rabbit?

Indeed, I have! In fact, part of the inspiration for The Burrow came from my own family adopting a mini-lop rabbit during the pandemic. I think we were looking for something cute and fluffy to alleviate our grief but the rabbit surprised us. He did not want to be held, he was often fearful and his prey animal instincts mirrored many of the anxieties my family and I were feeling as a result of having our lives abruptly suspended by the pandemic. It is not surprising then that I felt compelled to write about this enigmatic creature. I also had a lot of lagomorphic trivia ready to share with readers!

What inspired you to write The Burrow, and how did the concept of the book evolve over time? Was it always your intention to set it during the pandemic?

I’d been thinking about writing a family story for some time—more specifically a story about a family dealing with an accidental death. I wanted to explore how a family can heal after such an impossible tragedy, particularly a family that is not religious, a family who believes in science and cause and effect. It was dark subject matter but I didn’t want to write a depressing or heavy book. For a long while, I couldn’t see a way in. And then we adopted Miles, our mini-lop. Suddenly, I saw that a pet rabbit could provide that softness and lightness I had been looking for. As for the pandemic, I didn’t want to revisit what was a bleak period for so many of us—myself included. But as I started writing The Burrow it felt right to set it during that time. The lockdowns explained both the family’s impetus to adopt the rabbit as well as the unexpected visit from Pauline, Amy’s estranged mother. And then of course the lockdowns fed into so many of the themes I was interested in exploring in the book: isolation, loneliness, uncertainty, fear.  

In The Burrow, we see how a single traumatic event affects a family in profoundly different ways, with each character’s response feeling incredibly authentic. How did you approach portraying the diverse emotional responses of the characters, particularly considering their varying ages and perspectives?

If I am going to write a character with any authenticity, I need a way in. In the case of the characters in The Burrow, I share characteristics with each of them. Like Jin, I have Chinese heritage and work as a doctor. Like Amy, I am a mother and a writer. Like Lucie, I was once a bookish, introverted child, terrified and fascinated by death. Pauline is probably the character least like me in terms of age and circumstance, but I joke that she may be the future me — I certainly share some of her concerns for the future and nostalgia for aspects of the past. My fascination with a multiplicity of perspectives can also be traced to my apprenticeship in short stories. I am often frustrated and bored with the limits of my own point of view and so, for me, the magic and escapism and joy of writing lies in the ability to inhabit many minds.