Time and memory fill the pages of the latest novels from Aimee Bender (The Butterfly Lampshade) and Katy Simpson Smith (The Everlasting). In The Butterfly Lampshade, a  woman struggles to make sense of three strange episodes from her childhood, fearing she’s inherited her mother’s mental illness. In The Everlasting, characters from four different time periods—the first century CE, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the present—inhabit the same area of Rome, sharing struggles and successes across the centuries. Join Bender and Smith as they discuss memory, time, and what it’s like to write characters from ages different—personally and historically—than oneself.

In association with Wordplay and the Loft Literary Center

• Format: Rachel Yang (Twitter: @rachelayang)

Aimee Bender, Katy Simpson Smith, The Butterfly Lampshade, The Everlasting