Can you tell us what inspired this story and how it came about?
Anyone familiar with my past publications will know “time” is something I often play with in my stories, whether it’s splitting a person into their various selves at different ages (“Splits”), making my main character age in reverse (“A Fall Backward Through the Hourglass”), or writing a protagonist addicted to nostalgia in pill form (“In the Grip of Yesterday”), to name a few. But I’d always wanted to write a story that simultaneously incorporated several time periods. I have an interest in history, be it major world events or simply pop culture history, and I wanted to include things like my love of ’40s music, pop art, vintage food, the moon landing, and yes, even Star Wars, in a single story, but I didn’t know how to pull it off. This story finally came about in an almost accidental way. I’m a life-long insomniac, and I woke up in the middle of the night, so as I sometimes do, I got up to write. The opening line just came to me, and I started free-writing from there, the first draft flowing out of my exhausted mind.
What led you to place the Oakmont in Manhattan?
I realise this may seem an odd choice for a Canadian writer, especially one who spent years living in Toronto, which would make you think that an obvious choice for a setting, but I went with New York for a few reasons. For one, the first line, “On the island of Manhattan, there’s a building out of time,” was the first thing that popped into my head, and I went with it. Of course, I could’ve changed that in editing, but it made sense as a setting for a lot of the historical references I later included in the story. For instance, the silent film, Safety Last, which was filmed in and takes place in New York and sees Harold Lloyd dangling over the city from the hands of a huge clock. As a kid, I’d watched these old silent films with my dad and had always wanted to include Harold Lloyd’s work in one of my stories, since he never gets as much credit for his contribution to film as Keaton and Chaplin do. Safety Last is not just my favorite of his films, but it also came with built-in, time-related symbolism. There’s also the reference to Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photograph, V-J Day in Times Square. I’m a former professional photographer and have long been a fan of Eisenstaedt’s work—in fact, I focused an entire final project on him in college—so I knew this photograph had been taken at the end of World War II, in the midst of the celebration in the streets of New York. So, because of details like this, and the fact that it fit the “big city” aesthetic I was going for, New York just felt right for the setting.
I was struck by how, even with an apartment building that spans the decades, living in The Oakmont means living under threat of eviction. How much did the current housing crisis and general modern precarity factor into this?
I don’t know that I consciously included that in my story as a mirror to what the housing crisis is like now, but it’s something that’s definitely been on my mind. I look at how much rent has risen in Toronto, for instance, and I honestly have no idea how we could afford to live there now. We’ve also experienced it first-hand in our own desire to move to a more spacious house, only to find nothing that would suit our needs within our budget, despite already owning a home we could sell. In the end, we had no choice but to give up our search for a new home and opted to renovate our current home instead. I consider my family privileged for owning property at all. I honestly have no idea how anyone who didn’t buy when things were still reasonable can be expected to do so now, and rent isn’t really any better. As far as my story’s concerned, I feel like the people called to The Oakmont are a special kind of people in the first place, and so they accept that this is a magical place, and that this magic isn’t meant to last forever, and they’re okay with just getting to experience it for a limited time. Of course, the ending leaves that in doubt too. Time’s a funny thing. In some ways, maybe residency at The Oakmont is forever.
Given the way you built the setting, the theme of lost love feels natural for these characters. Was the love story between Sarah and Roger always at the core of the story, or did it emerge in the telling?
Though I often write about human connections of other stripes, I rarely write love stories, so this ultimate May-December relationship is a departure for me. The romantic thread was there from the start, though, and I think it had to do with the fact that I’ve always been struck by the sacrifice soldiers make going off to serve their country, knowing they’ll be away from their families for so long, if they return at all, as well as the courage of the loved ones left behind. My dad’s always been interested in war history, and I grew up watching war movies and documentaries, so I knew war was going to play a part in this story. World War II became the conflict Sarah and Roger have to contend with, but there’s also a mirror in the Vietnam War that Don’s against taking part in. At the core of both conflicts is Sarah, who bridges the different attitudes of the generations. On the one hand, she understands and even respects Roger’s desire to enlist, given that at the time it was a point of honor and men in the ’40s felt called to a higher duty in defense of their ideals. But Sarah also understands why her friend Don is protesting the Vietnam War, and even why he opts to go to Canada rather than face the possibility of getting drafted. Her position in history gives her a unique view of both situations, and being the person she is, she doesn’t interfere with their decisions, but it’s still difficult for her because she cares for them, and she knows how both wars unfold. But Sarah doesn’t know how things turn out for them as individuals, so it’s also extremely hard on her, especially where Roger’s concerned, since she’s in love with him. She represents the loved ones left to continue living life, never knowing if bad news will one day come from the front.
Is there anything you’re working on now that you’d like to talk about? What can our readers look forward to seeing from you in the future?
I have a few short stories I’ve written that are still in a rough state, but I hope to get those out in the world soon. One of them also involves a time anomaly because I couldn’t keep from playing with time for very long. I’m also working on a novel that expands on my short story “Splits.” I can’t say when it’ll be done, but stay tuned for that. And I’m also putting together a short story collection, which is nearly ready, so I’m hoping to put that out in the not-too-distant future as well. I’m really good about updating my website, so readers can stay abreast of all my publications and any forthcoming stories through that, or by subscribing to my free monthly newsletter, the link for which is also on my website.
Phoebe Barton is a queer trans science fiction writer. Her short fiction has appeared in venues such as Analog, Lightspeed, and Kaleidotrope, and she wrote the interactive fiction game The Luminous Underground for Choice of Games. She serves as an Associate Editor at Escape Pod, is a 2019 graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop, and lives with a robot in the sky above Toronto.