A different view of Edward Cullen and co. Stephenie Meyer‘s new book, Midnight Sun, is the retelling of her 2005 novel, Twilight, this time from the perspective of Edward instead of Bella Swan.
“I detailed quite a bit of Edward’s history in Twilight, so writing this book was less about creating a past for him than it was about fleshing out some of that past and seeing his familial relationships in action,” Meyer, 46, tells Us Weekly exclusively. “As an experience, it’s about looking at the world through a vampire’s eyes instead of a human’s.”
The events of the first book — Edward and Bella falling in love, her finding out he’s a vampire and the beginning of the love triangle with Jacob Black — are all part of Midnight Sun as well. However, it may be surprising when fans read this novel.
“I think some readers might be taken aback by this version of Edward,” the author says. “If they wanted someone suave and optimistic, they will not enjoy this troubled soul. I prefer the more complicated, flawed version, but I suppose that’s unsurprising because it’s how I always saw him.”
Her famous novel was adapted for the big screen in 2008, as Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner launched their careers as Bela, Edward and Jacob, respectively.
Although the Host writer knew it would be more difficult to write from a male’s perspective, she didn’t struggle with this one.
“I know Edward so well by now that his gender didn’t make anything more difficult,” she says of the book, which she began writing in 2006. “I finished the rough draft in November of 2019. … I imagine this probably took me longer than any other book. It was slow going!”
For more from Meyer, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly on newsstands Wednesday, August 5.
Midnight Sun is available now.
