Does she feel a sense of responsibility to assist others? Do you?Įllice absolutely feels a sense of responsibility. I want to write women’s stories.Įllice is the lone Black person on the executive floor, and soon she realizes there are few people of color in the entire firm. But I didn’t set out to write legal stories. I’ve heard some reviewers compare the book to John Grisham’s The Firm. However, Ellice’s story could be the story of any woman who has ever felt unseen, marginalized, or gaslighted. I wrapped the mystery of the story in a legal setting to heighten the threat of the ethical dilemma Ellice faces. Ellice’s experiences are an amalgam of what many women experience in the workplace and in their everyday lives. I wanted to write about one woman’s experience living a dual life-that of a successful professional woman and that of a Black woman in America. Slaughter’s quote is an overwhelmingly wonderful compliment. Karin Slaughter called All Her Little Secrets a “powerful exploration of race, the legal system, and the crushing presence of keeping secrets.” Why did you feel the need to juggle those difficult topics? But writing as a lawyer is very different from writing as a novelist and I yearned to create original stories. While I always enjoyed writing, I was encouraged to pursue a “real job” so I became a lawyer, because lawyers do a lot of reading and writing. The loneliness and code-switching that Ellice describes in the book are very familiar feelings I had while attending private school. Like Ellice, I was fortunate to attend a private school beginning in high school. I was born and raised in Cleveland, OH, the youngest of seven children, so money and resources were scarce. When she gets an opportunity to escape through a private boarding school scholarship, she does everything to win.
Tell us about her background, then about yours and how your background influenced your choice of career.Įllice comes from a background of poverty and emotional and physical abuse.
Like the main character in your novel, Ellice Littlejohn, you’re a corporate attorney.
Morris talks to LJ about her debut novel, wrapping women’s stories in legal thrillers, and how an Atlanta library was instrumental in the creation of All Her Little Secrets.
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