- Let's turn now to a new novel by Michigan native and bestselling author, Ruta Sepetys.

"A Fortune of Sand" is a drama set in 1920s Detroit, when the automobile industry was booming.

The story explores ambition, family loyalty, and the fortunes built and lost during a groundbreaking period in America's history.

One Detroit contributor, Lauren Smith of PBS books, spoke with Sepetys during the author's recent appearance at the Penn Theater in Plymouth.

(bright music) - So tell us all about the book.

What inspired it?

- Oh, what inspired it?

My love for Detroit, also what inspired it is my question.

What determines how history is preserved and recalled.

Many people don't know that Detroit was once considered the Paris of the Midwest.

So I wanted to go back to Detroit's golden age and bring that history out of the dark via story.

- Yes, so it takes place in 1920s, Detroit.

What was different about that time than now?

And how does that sort of factor into the story?

- What surprised me about the '20s, was that the dominant narrative of the '20s that we've accepted flappers and jazz, and you know this, that's not the complete narrative.

And when I started to look into Detroit history, I did find the complete narrative that represented what was happening across the entire country.

And "A Fortune of Sand" follows an automotive family, the Lennox and the youngest daughter, Marjorie Lennox is an aspiring fashion designer.

And this is a very wealthy family who's behaving badly.

- Mm-hmm.

- And gaining a lot of power while doing it.

And Marjorie discovers a web of lies in her own family and then has to face a terrifying truth.

Just how far will an American dynasty go to keep their secrets?

And those were things that I was uncovering about the city of Detroit.

And it was, the story was built with bricks from actual true stories.

- Wow.

And you actually looked into some of the old photographs and researched some of the old articles and papers.

Talk to us about the research process.

- Oh, I love the research process.

So to research this book every morning with my coffee, I read the newspaper from whatever day it was.

But in 1927, the setting for the book, and what I found again was so interesting because the papers in the city of Detroit, so the free press, the News, at the time there was the "Detroit Times," I was reading something, but then when I would go to a newspaper, let's say from Battle Creek or Lansing or Traverse City, there were stories that weren't reported in the Detroit papers themselves.

And keep in mind, during that time, newspapers carried so much power, newspapers, society pages, obituaries- - Mm-hmm, which we talk about in this novel?

- Exactly, right.

And that's where the stories lied.

I did find that obituaries and death notices, people were very particular, but think about it, this was their history.

But in one particular case of something I was researching related to the book, I don't wanna give any spoilers.

Something didn't add up to me.

So I filed a request to get access to a death certificate.

And what was reported on the death certificate is not what was in the obituary.

So people were, there was this great contrast of fortune and facade.

And as a writer and a creative, we need that, right?

We need those opposing forces.

They illuminate each other.

So I really leaned into the fortune and facade of Detroit.

- I love that.

And let's talk a little bit about the title of "Fortune of Sand" and that metaphor.

- Yes.

In the "Fortune of Sand."

So sand, sand is something that we walk on.

Sand is something that we wipe from our shoes, right?

But there's a paradox there.

Sand slips through our fingers.

So it's something that we might disregard, but in a certain situation, sand can become really strong.

You know, sometimes when it's wet or under the right circumstances, we need sand to make glass.

- Mm-hmm.

- And the Lennox family, they run a glass empire.

And glass then is also has these contrasts that if glass can provide protection from the elements, it's something that maybe helps us see.

But it can also become distorted.

- Yes.

- And it can shatter.

And so when I was thinking about it, I thought, oh my goodness, all these contrasts and juxtapositions, I'm gonna try to put those together into a title "A Fortune of Sand."

- I love that so much.

And I thought the book was so great.

It's sort of a mix of historical fiction, but it feels a little gothic to me as well.

It's sort of spooky without there being any real ghosts.

And there's some really interesting, like just Detroit landmarks, there's, you know, the Gross point mansions.

- Yes.

- But then there's also like Eloise Asylum and things like that.

- Yes.

- I think for Detroiters, it's gonna be a fascinating look at a city that maybe you hadn't considered in this way.

- I hope so, because, you know, history can be haunting.

And Detroit during the '20s was a city at war with itself.

This was during prohibition.

And think about what was going on.

But also I want people to know and appreciate Detroit.

Detroit during this time period wasn't looking to the future.

Detroit was creating the future, right?

And so I really wanted people to I don't know, understand Detroit during this age.