Joyce Maynard outside her home in Guatemala.

By Xiren Wang

So you’re an 18-year-old girl who, based on one photo and article, has been anointed the Voice of Your Generation; you attract the attention of a world-famous 53-year-old literary sensation. You correspond; he invites you to live with him, as one does. Your mother, herself a brilliant but thwarted writer, would not be pleased if this were some schmo. This is not some schmo. You are her finest creation, and the Great Man wants you. So you drop your scholarship at Yale; your mother sews you an alphabet-print A-line dress that makes you look like you’re 12; and you present your skinny self (your mother is very proud of that, too) at the home of the great man. Your favorite prep-school teacher drives you there. Nobody thinks this is a bad idea.