CR 030: Edward Underhill on Writing, Identity, and Time Travel

The author discusses his enchanting new novel, “The In-Between Bookstore.”

Edward Underhill, photo by by Karianne Flaathen

If you had an opportunity to travel back in time and speak to your younger self, what would you say? That’s the central question in Edward Underhill’s latest novel, The In-Between Bookstore. It tells the story of a trans man, Darby, who—recently fired and on the cusp of turning 30—is no longer sure he wants to live in New York City. In search of a fresh start, he moves back to his small Midwestern hometown and revisits one of his favorite old haunts, the bookstore where he worked as a teenager. But when he goes through its doors, he lands back in 2009 and comes face-to-face with his pre-transition 16-year-old self. A poignant story of self-discovery, friendship, and family, it was, Underhill says, a joy to write. “It was a book that I genuinely never thought I would have the chance to actually write,” he said over a recent Zoom call. “But there were aspects of it that I was just like, ‘This is why I love reading. This is why I love writin…