The Time We Have Left with Dara Levan

IN SHAKEN TO THE CORE, Joy is a Miami photographer whose “carefully curated life” is interrupted by loss, and soon after, by circumstances that change the future she thought she had chosen. In conversation, Dara Levan is interested in how people keep living after loss, and how joy and grief can exist simultaneously without canceling each other out.

“What do we do with the time we have left?” Dara asks, a question that runs through the novel—through motherhood, marriage, loss, and love, asking us to remain present and to stay open to joy. 

“What are we doing with these moments when it could just be our last? And I mean that in a really uplifting, present way.” —Dara Levan 

A GOODBYE AT SUNSET is where Dara perfectly encapsulates grief, memory, and the present moment. On the first page of Shaken to the Core, we’re on a Miami beach at sunset, Joy’s mother’s favorite time of day. Dara said the choice came partially from the “tapestry of shared experiences” drawn from her podcast, her work as a speech therapist, and her own life. “Salt is cleansing,” Dara explained, and healing comes in waves, “just like the waves of an ocean.” The scene is a goodbye, but Dara intended it to be uplifting, because for her, honoring the people we have lost also means honoring what they loved.

“I love sunsets. I find them soothing. I also think sunsets are metaphorical. It’s an ending.” —Dara Levan

See the Full Interview on Substack.