April 15, 2025

by Steven Beattie

When actor and theatre director Sash Bischoff sat down to write her first novel, she never intended it to involve a reckoning with one of the great American novelists of the 20th century.

The first draft of Bischoff’s debut, Sweet Fury, was written during a six-month period at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The narrative was cast in the form of a psychological thriller with the backdrop of a film crew making a movie. Bischoff’s story involved psychotherapist Jonah Gabriel undertaking a series of sessions with famed movie star Lila Crane, who is starring in her fiancé’s upcoming film project. The therapeutic relationship begins to surface buried trauma from Lila’s past, while her present is upended by the appearance of a young ingenue on set. It was a fashionably twisty plot, with multiple reversals and characters who were not at all who they appeared to be.

Read the full interview HERE.