Today's episode is an in-length conversation with National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff. She met up with NPR's Andrew Limbong at a library at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where they chatted about Mary Rowlandson, the colonial woman captured and held ransom by Native Americans in the 1600s, and how she influenced Groff's new book, The Vaster Wilds. Groff also talked about how she found a new affinity for historical fiction, and why she always has "a go bag" ready.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy