Colm Tóibín returned to the world of bestseller Brooklyn – 15 years after its publication, with Long Island. Becky Manawatu’s (Ngāi Tahu) Kataraina is the follow-up to her award-sweeping Auē. David Nicholls was immersed back in his huge 2009 hit novel One Day on its major Netflix adaptation. What was the pull for these writers to revisit these books? And what discoveries did they make about their work, characters – and themselves – in returning?