It's OK if it's the first time you've met renowned Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez. It doesn't matter if the occasion is a short phone interview she's doing in support of her latest novel, "Afterlife," and her virtual guest appearance Tuesday on "Read of The Day," our monthly book club in partnership with Bank Square Books.

Because, within about 20 seconds, talking to the multiple award-winning author of "In the Time of the Butterflies," "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" and numerous other novels, works of poetry and children's and young adult fiction, the conversation takes on the warm and comfortable tones you'd anticipate talking to a favorite aunt or old friend. In fact, it's so easy and natural that it seems perfectly fine to drift off topic. And Alvarez's natural curiosity, warmth and background as a college professor means she automatically asks genuine questions in return — even though the whole point of the interview is to talk about HER.

A sum of experiences

Eventually, the interview, flitting around like a honeybee considering a flower, manages to include discussion of the real-world experiences which, combined with a lifetime lovingly devoted to craft, resulted in the wonderful "Afterlife" — her first novel for adults in over a decade. And Alvarez says the divisive and tense times of the last several years in America certainly seeped into her narrative.

"I definitely believe writers are porous, and that includes not just what you're reading or the people you're surrounded by but the community and what's happening in the world," says Alvarez from her home in Vermont. "If you try to deny those influences in your writing, then there's an artificiality in what you write. It's very easy for the writer to get in the way of the unfolding and organic nature of the narrative.

"Sometimes, when you start a novel, the writerly presence has to be there to get you into the work and the process — and ultimately you need the writer aspect to appraise the work you've created and figure out what remains and works, and those sections that don't."

Alvarez, 71, was born in New York City but lived in her family's native Dominican Republic until she was 10, when they returned to the U.S. She graduated from Middlebury College, but first attended and speaks fondly of her time at Connecticut College in New London, where she twice won the Benjamin T. Marshall Poetry Prize. She was writer in residence for many years at Middlebury, and among her many honors are the Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, selection of "In the Time of the Butterflies" by the National Endowment of the Arts Big Read program, and "in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling," a 2013 National Medal of the Arts presented by President Barack Obama.

Unexpected tragedy

In "Afterlife," Antonia Vega has just retired as an English professor in Vermont and is looking forward to spending time with her husband Sam. But when he suddenly dies, and one of Antonia's three beloved sisters, the warm-hearted but unstable Izzy, vanishes, life has turned cruelly tragic. The last thing Antonia needs is the arrival of Estela, a pregnant, undocumented teenager who shows up on her doorstep. Or: is the entry of Estela into her life the precise event that Antonia — herself an immigrant — needs to jolt her out of an emotionally crippling melancholy? The novel asks a lot of difficult questions, of Antonia and of readers, but there is also plenty of droll wit and big heart throughout.

"I didn't have Antonia fully formed when I started," Alvarez says. "But I liked her. I could feel the voice of the novel, her narrative voice, and when I have that voice, I'm riding the wave. It doesn't mean I'll get it right, but from the start I did wonder what happens to someone when their world completely shatters. Things around her will require her to show up or not. People don't necessarily get a quota of suffering.

"I had this character who grew up loving life and literature, and I was intrigued with the idea of what would happen when real problems show up at her door. I wanted to know how it would play out because she can't just think it through with beautiful language. Sometimes having the words isn't enough. It's the action behind the words."

The result? The wise-but-emotionally battered Antonia is an astounding character whose reflections, quick observations and distilled memories — all garnished with a lifetime's amalgam of literary and philosophical quotes and asides — twirl like confetti through her mind. It's an intoxicating, sad and yet exuberant experience to go with her through the pages as it all unfolds in Alvarez's lulling rhythms and rich, musical prose.

A Latin literary tradition

She's asked if she thinks there's a cultural connection that contributes to such lovely writing; hers is a style that fits comfortably alongside works by Juan Ramón Jiménez, Isabelle Allende and Gabriel García Márquez, to name just a few Latin stylists.

"I came permanently to the U.S. in 1966 at a time when there was no bilingual education and immigrants were encouraged to develop fluency in Spanish.

"Looking back, I see now that I write my Spanish in English — the cadence and rhythm and the culture and the narrative. Maybe I'm not typing in the language, but the support system for the writing comes from the culture and the tradition of the language."

Thematically, while "Afterlife" continues the author's explorations of the immigrant experience, the multifaceted and vital network of sisterhood, and the complexities of mental health, it's also a very different work. For one thing, it's much shorter than most of Alvarez's typical prose excursions.

"One thing I did do was consciously write a short, lyrical novel that was pared down, and I purposefully wanted Antonia to help make that happen," Alvarez says. "I always want to play and enjoy the writing process. I want as a writer to be surprised and delighted. Frost said, 'No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.'

"At the same time, writing is hard work. Even a short novel. There's a fascination and challenge in what's difficult, but when it starts to feel like drudgery, I put it aside for a while. Because you have to have that energy. Blake said energy is 'eternal delight.' And when your writing is on fire, the reader knows it, and there's an act of communication between us all. We're connected and we're feeding our souls."

To watch and listen

Who: Novelist Julia Alvarez

What: Discusses her latest book, "Afterlife," with The Day's Rick Koster as part of our "Read of The Day" book club in partnership with Bank Square Books.

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

How much: $5 (access only) or $20 (access and copy of the book)

To register: https://www.banksquarebooks.com/event/virtual-read-day-julia-alvarez-afterlife

For more information: (860) 536-3795