Jennifer Niven

What happens when the immovable object isn't a king, but the biochemistry of the human brain? Let's talk about All the Bright Places.

This is based on Jennifer Niven's novel, and it follows two teenagers in Indiana, Theodore Finch, played by Justice Smith, who struggles with severe undiagnosed bipolar disorder and a fascination with death.

And Violet Markey, played by Elle Fanning.

Yes, who is entirely frozen by survivor's guilt after her sister died in a car crash.

She enlists a, a dedicated archivist named Rory, played by Nihal Rizwan, and they start tearing apart the dusty, forgotten files of the city to find the rest of the correspondence.

And as they read these letters, the narrative visually transports us back to 1965.

We meet Jennifer Stirling, played by Shailene Woodley, a woman trapped in an incredibly stifling, emotionally dead marriage to a wealthy industrialist.

Just a gilded cage.

[upbeat music] Welcome to Always Authors, the literary podcast that presents two authors in candid conversation.

On this episode, we're proud to present Camille Perri and Jennifer Niven.

Camille is the acclaimed author of The Assistants, When Katie Met Cassidy, and most recently, Social Animals.

She has also worked as books editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire.

Go ahead.

Um, Breathless by Jennifer Niven.

Niven's 2020 novel is coming of age love story that was banned in 20 school districts.

On her website, the bestselling author describes Breathless as the book I needed when I was 16, 17, 18.