Theresa Rebeck Pens a Stylish Novel in Novel Style

To say that renowned playwright Theresa Rebeck is a versatile writer is pure understatement. Now the award-winning writer has switched gears and has authored her first novel, titled Three Girls and Their Brother.  
“It has always been a dream of mine to write a novel,” Rebeck said. After her years spent writing for stage and television, I wondered if it was difficult for her to change her writing style. “It was challenging,” she acknowledged, adding that it took her two years to complete the first 50 pages. However, once she got started, she certainly penned a novel that was very hard to put down.
For one thing, Rebeck utilizes an intriguing writing technique in Three Girls and Their Brother, changing the voice of the narrator throughout the novel. “I am interested in shifting points of view,” Rebeck explained. “I come from a very large family and I hear the world that way.”  She also revealed that she is “very visual when writing; I see a movie in my head.”
Three Girls and Their Brother is the story of the Heller girls, three gorgeous, redheaded, teenage sisters living in Brooklyn who soar from obscurity to fame when a magazine names them the “It Girls” of the century. As they try to adjust to their newfound stardom, the girls must learn to deal with a so-called stage mother who just happens to be a former beauty queen; agents; photographers; makeup artists; hairstylists…and sibling rivalry. In the background is Phillip, their 15-year-old brother who brings readers his personal perspective and boy, does he spell disaster, as you learn when he narrates the first few chapters of the book.
Although the book was written for adults, it is a very good read for teenagers. In fact, Rebeck received a 2009 Alex Award for Three Girls and Their Brother from the American Library Association. The award is presented annually to books that draw a teenage audience. Rebeck said her son and nieces have all read the book and given it a unanimous thumbs-up.
Rebeck earned an MFA in playwriting and a PhD in Victorian melodrama from Brandeis University. Her work has been performed on stages across the country, including on Broadway where her play Mauritius premiered in 2007. Some of her work includes The Water's Edge, The Scene, Bad Dates and Omnium Gatherum, for which she was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Ms. Rebeck has an impressive list of television credits as well, including Law and Order, Third Watch, Brooklyn Bridge, LA Law and NYPD Blue, for which she has won an award.
Although many authors find themselves writing during the late night hours when most of the world is asleep, Rebeck said she writes primarily during the day, often on the subway. She is presently finishing her second novel, titled Twisted Inheritance.