Characters and their Decisions

Last night, I stayed up way too late reading a book.

It was the latest installment in a fiction series that I have always adored. I follow the author on Twitter, and have talked to her a bit there. She seems like a lovely person, and she's been wonderfully gracious when I've asked her a few questions about her writing process.

The problem is, on the very last page of a very good novel, the main character makes a life choice that infuriates me and breaks my heart. It's something that will forever color the way I look at the character. I have faith in the author that she could continue to make the character interesting and compelling, but she's now working with a pretty big impediment.

It's an amazing thing to write a character that is so relatable -- so interesting and inviting -- that a reader is genuinely sad and disappointed by her actions. I finally put the iPad down around 2 this morning. Seven hours later, I'm still thinking about why the author made that choice, how out-of-character it seemed for the heroine, and what it means for future stories.

To me, that is the mark of a good book -- it almost doesn't matter that I didn't like the ending because I am so invested in the character. If I'd tossed it aside and vowed to stop reading because of a distasteful development, then it would be about bad (or at least uninteresting) storytelling. But to craft the decision in such a way that makes me want to go along for the ride -- that's something interesting indeed.