“Heavy Things” by Phish

“When I tried to step aside, I moved to where they hoped I’d be.”

Whenever I hear that line it makes me think of Penelope. And Colin, for that matter. They were both trying to carve out their own places in the world and kept finding themselves pigeonholed by society. Plus, I think that if Colin were a modern guy, he’d be a bit of a Deadhead (and by extension, a Phish fan).

“Legend of a Cowgirl” by Imani Coppola

I love this song! It just screams Girl Power to me. I can totally see a modern-day Penelope singing it at the top of her lungs if she didn’t think anyone was home.

“Virginia Woolf” by Indigo Girls

A wonderful song about the power of the pen, especially in the hand of a woman.

“Babylon” by David Gray

I listened to this song so often while I was conceiving and writing this book. We were living in London while my husband was studying at the School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and we only brought about ten CDs with us (this was 2001; no streaming yet!). David Gray’s White Ladder was one of them, and amazingly, I never grew sick of it.