Physician Godfrey draws on her experience treating severe neurological injuries in Imposter (Blackstone), her first solo novel.
What was the kernel around which you constructed Imposter?
I’ve been fascinated for years by the neuroscience of memory after trauma—both physical and emotional—and wanted to explore that in Imposter. We often think of memory as a mental photograph or video, faithfully recorded without bias, but that isn’t true at all. What our brain chooses to store as memory is not so much what happened but how we feel about what happened. Trauma has a huge effect on our memories, as well. When we consider that our entire personality is a conglomeration of our memories, we realize how precarious it all is. Losing memories can feel like losing ourselves. Including this in a novel allowed me to explore different ways memory influences the belief systems of my characters and how that affects the choices they make.
Why did you choose the psychological thriller genre?
I love this genre because it combines traditional thriller elements, like plot twists and dangerous situations, with the psychological impact of those elements on the characters. In many thrillers, a central question may be whether the main character can trust another character—is this person an ally or an adversary? But in a psychological thriller, the question shifts: can the main character trust herself—her own judgment and perceptions? This adds a depth and complexity that is so fun to write about.
Were there elements in the novel that emerged during the writing that surprised you?
The story centers on two sisters: the older one is responsible and high achieving, a physician and a mother; she essentially raised her younger sister because their parents weren’t reliable. As a doctor, mom, and older sister myself, I related easily to this character’s deep sense of responsibility, and she was fairly easy to write. The younger sister is the opposite, flighty and self-absorbed, and at first I found it challenging to get into her head. It wasn’t until I explored what it must be like to be raised by an older sibling that she began to make sense to me. This character saw her older sister almost as a parent, so when her older sister left home to pursue her own life, it felt like abandonment, and that sense of abandonment influenced all her future choices.
