Before marrying Jeff Bezos in 1993, MacKenzie Scott was a standout English major at Princeton, where Toni Morrison considered her one of the “best” students she had ever taught in a creative-writing class. Scott’s first novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, was published two decades ago, followed by her second novel, Traps, in 2013.
Now, as the esteemed philanthropist unveils her newest fictional work, Last Days in Two Nations—a dystopian serialized novel available for free on Substack—Vogue revisits its 2013 profile of Scott.
“A Novel Perspective” by Rebecca Johnson was initially published in the March 2013 edition of Vogue.
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Before meeting her, my perception of MacKenzie Bezos was shaped solely by her author photo on The Testing of Luther Albright. She appeared delicate yet unsure, as though uncertain about her role as a novelist. However, when she arrived at a Thai restaurant in Bellevue, Washington, for our lunch meeting to discuss her latest novel, Traps, it was evident that she was no longer hesitant. Despite maintaining an ethereal appearance with fair skin and prominent cheekbones, her confidence was unmistakable.
Scott revealed that completing her first novel took a decade and involved “a lot of tears.” During this period, she was also busy with major life events such as moving across the country, raising four children, and supporting her husband in launching Amazon.com. “Jeff is my best reader,” she mentioned regarding her husband, who would devote a day to reading her manuscript and providing detailed feedback. To expedite the completion of Traps, she chose not to discuss it with Jeff, which served as motivation. “The sooner I finished, the sooner I could share it with him and talk about these characters who had been taking up so much space in my head,” she said. “By the last three months, they were so real and important to me, I could start crying just thinking about them while driving to pick up the kids from school.”
Traps is a concise, fast-paced novel that follows four diverse women over four days in the Los Angeles area. It is a nuanced, character-driven thriller that combines suspense with intelligence. In a similar vein to her first novel, which was honored as a Los Angeles Times book of the year, Scott uses professions as a metaphor for the characters’ lives. The novel explores various professions, from animal rescuer to teen prostitute, illustrating how these roles reflect the characters’ personal struggles. A security consultant excels at identifying threats but struggles with vulnerability. Meanwhile, a movie star with millions of fans has been estranged from her mother for years. Unlike The Testing of Luther Albright, which delved into domestic realism, Traps is infused with cinematic drama ready for Hollywood.
