Total is the brand new book from author and filmmaker Rebecca Miller. It has just been released, but the wheels were set in motion for this collection of short stories, almost two decades ago.
“The first story in the collection actually started when I was breastfeeding a child who is now 20,” she tells Róisín Ingle on the latest episode of The Women’s Podcast.
“Sometimes I carry characters or events around for many years, before I can figure out how to make them go forward as a story”.
It was during the pandemic, when Miller, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and acclaimed photographer Inge Morath, finally found the time and space needed, to explore her lingering ideas. “I started to go back to certain things that I hadn’t figured out how to do yet,” she says.
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In Total, there are seven short stories, many exploring themes of motherhood, family and creativity, often with women at their core.
Miller reveals where the inspiration for her characters and their lives came from, including the protagonist in ‘Receipts’, who is victim to a sexual assault.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that every single woman I know has been in some way sexually assaulted,” she explains.
In this episode, the pair discuss Miller’s connection to Ireland through her marriage to actor Daniel Day-Lewis, her own journey through motherhood and what she plans to do next.
You can listen back to their conversation in the player above, or wherever you get your podcasts.
