A new teen novel asks readers to 'solve' its plot like a puzzle

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Marisha Pessl about her new book for teens. The idea for the twist-filled thriller "Darkly" came out of her girlhood love of board games.

Transcript

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

A new novel for teens is like a puzzle, drawing readers in to solve its plot. The book follows a teen girl, Dia - short for Arcadia - a misfit. But she's chosen along with six others for a coveted internship. It's on a creepy island off the English coast at a board game company called Darkly. The company's famous for games that are equal parts magic and danger and for its founder, an eccentric woman long thought dead. The novel is titled "Darkly," and it comes from the mind of Marisha Pessl. Welcome to the program.

MARISHA PESSL: Oh, thank you so much for having me.

RASCOE: What inspired you to come up with this plot around this company that makes board games, but these games are - you know, it's definitely not Chutes And Ladders or Monopoly, you know?

PESSL: No. I mean, I'm a lifelong lover of puzzles, board games I played as a child. I remember, you know, taking out the board games by myself and, like, playing with the actual pieces. And the board game was, like - it came to life for me, so I've always loved board games. And then I also loved the intersection of board games with art. So I wanted to create this empire that lives at the intersection between gaming and art and sort of how the mysteries of the past have to unlock the mystery of the present.

RASCOE: The board games - many times in the book, they're referred to as kind of like Picassos. Like, to get an original one is like finding this masterpiece. To give us a feel for one of the board games, can you read a description from the book of the game called Disappearing Act?

PESSL: I would love to.

(Reading) The gaming manual stipulates the game must be played at night, outside. There's a small, black Darkly radio that plays the soundtrack. And the music crackles with the past, creating this feeling of a separate realm, like anything is possible. But the story the game tells - a twisted mystery unfolding with cards, dice, and envelopes, equal parts chance and skill - it stays with you forever.

RASCOE: Wow. And I have to say, I have, like, a curiosity about games. Me and my kids - we did solve this true-crime board game where you had to, like, solve, like, a murder mystery.

PESSL: Oh, I love these. Yes. Yes.

RASCOE: Now, I will say, with three young children, it was mostly me doing the solving, and it took a very long time. And a lot of it was, like, put that down. Be quiet.

PESSL: (Laughter) That's how it is with me, too.

RASCOE: (Laughter) But there are these, like, very complex board games that exist, and they can be a lot of fun.

PESSL: Well, and I think right now, the idea of a contained chaos that you can actually solve in a few sittings is very refreshing. You know, a set of rules, four walls - there's some guidelines to follow, but it's a wonderful exercise. And I also really love forced companionship and that locked-room camaraderie that comes across with just playing a board game and also just, you know, solving a mystery. There's the obvious conceit inspired by Agatha Christie and all mysteries of a contained island where you're thrown with strangers and you have to make sense of these characters and also work with them to sort of figure out what the truth is.

RASCOE: It seems like a lot of the book is about the stories that we create about ourselves, the stories that others create about us and discovering how those scenes can be far apart.

PESSL: Well, yes, I mean, I've always loved, as an author, that coming-of-age space and the, like, sort of violent collision between the child's reality and when that really is confronted with the adult world. And, you know, there's a sadness and a loss that comes with those truths. But when you go on that, that helps forge your identity as a young person, and you don't want to make the same mistakes of those who came before you. And then there's also the question of through a glass darkly, which inspires the title for - I think it's from Corinthians, that...

RASCOE: Yes.

PESSL: ...We can never - I mean, even with all of our efforts, we can never really perceive anything clearly, that we're always looking through a glass darkly. So I guess it just allows me to know, however ferociously I believe something, there is always a sense that there's a larger picture I'm probably - I'm definitely missing, so...

RASCOE: You really create this world of "Darkly," which in the book is this empire, this game-manufacturing empire. But you include all of these kind of extras in the books. There are, like, polaroids, and old letters and party invites and architectural plans and newspaper clippings. What made you want to really create this alternate kind of reality?

PESSL: Well, I guess I'm a big fan of any kind of archive, like, going in and inspecting the old letters and these vestiges of the past that we are sorting through to make sense of what that story was. And so because I love an active reading experience - like, when I'm reading a mystery, I want to try to solve it. And I'm always so excited when the author outwits me and proves that I had no idea. I'm giving the reader Easter eggs and clues allowing he or she to attempt to solve the mystery, but hopefully, I fool them. That's the - at least that's the hope.

RASCOE: Is this about making the book an immersive experience? - because you are kind of competing against other forms of entertainment when you're trying to get these teen readers, right? Like, 'cause there are video games and YouTube and Netflix and TikTok and everything else.

PESSL: Yes. No, I'm not about to try to - I cannot compete with TikTok.

RASCOE: OK (laughter).

PESSL: So hopefully people come to the book knowing that this is a book. But, you know, reports of books' death are greatly exaggerated. I do believe books are not going away and that the more video games that are played, the more TikTok, the more doomscrolling, all of that stuff - the respite to all of this and the hope and the life raft is a simple book. Not attached to anything - a simple book in your hands, and that's going to transport you in a way that none of those other things can.

RASCOE: After writing this book, are you thinking about making any board games yourself or creating one?

PESSL: (Laughter) No. You know what? I would love to. No one's asked me. Parker Brothers - I'm waiting for their call. But I do think we are going to continue Arcadia's story. So that's definitely in the pipeline as well.

RASCOE: That's Marisha Pessl. Her new novel for teens is called "Darkly." Thank you so much for joining us.

PESSL: It was a pleasure. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.