Brylawski-Miller, an Arlington resident, recently completed her third novel, “The Shadow of the Evening.” She was born and grew up in Milan, Italy, has a background in both medicine and writing, holding a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and a master’s degree in creative writing from American University. How long did you live in Italy until you moved over here?
Until I was 20 [or] 21. I grew up in Milan and I was educated there, so I’m a full Italian. I think I became a citizen full-time in the ’60s.
Does your background color your writing?
At some level, very much so, because we can’t really [divorce] our past. All my books, in some way, start here and end up in Italy.
How did you develop your most recent novel?
It was from a desire to fix a place. Some years ago, I was in Tuscany and I went to Volterra. Of course, writing about Volterra required research. “The Shadow of the Evening” is actually the name that an Italian poet gave to a statue at a museum there. He called it the Shadow of the Evening because shadows are long and thin in the evening.
What are some of the book’s themes?
We think we are different from ancient civilizations. But we are not. We just know more. We’re basically the same. It’s really the relationship between two countries.
Which country do you like more?
I like them both, at some level. I do go back forth quite a bit. [But] now, I’m an American. I remember, as a matter of fact, I was in Italy on 9/11. I was walking in Milan, and I met this friend of mine who says, ‘Oh, lucky you were here.’ And my first reaction was, ‘No, I’m an American. I should be there.’ So by that point, I felt I was an American.
Dave Sherfinski
