Lizzie Harwood, the talented Paris writer and editor originally from New Zealand, knows something about the expat life. Before settling down to raise a family in Paris she worked in many unusual places, the kind of places that, in challenging identity, can push a girl "beyond the pale". In her highly entertaining debut, Triumph: Collected Stories of Gone Girls and Complicated Women, Lizzie draws inspiration from this experience to the delight of readers.
A talk with Lizzie Harwood, author of Triumph: Collected Stories of Gone Girls and Complicated Women
a Paris Writers News interview
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Laurel Zuckerman: How did you come to France? And why do you stay?
Lizzie Harwood: I came to Paris working as a property manager in 1999 and stayed only a year and a half. Then, a year later, in 2001, I came over for the weekend from London and met my future husband at a birthday dinner party... It certainly wasn't a planned move to France but 15 years later it's home because of having children who are half French and thus I am part French through them. I think we are where we were born but also where our children are born.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Aged 7 or so, we were allowed to write a creative story in Mr. Scrimgeour's class in the 2-room school I attended on an island with no electricity or sealed roads in New Zealand. I loved writing.
What inspired you to write Gone Girls and Complicated Women?
Triumph: Collected Stories of Gone Girls and Complicated Women is inspired from the many places I’ve lived in or traveled to – I grew up in New Zealand but have lived in Southeast Asia, Australia, areas of Italy, London & Brighton, and Prince Edward Island in Canada (home of Anne of Green Gables) before reaching Paris. Mum gave each of us all a one-way ticket to Europe for our 21st birthdays. Strangely, since moving to Paris I’ve stayed at 1 address longer than 3 years for the first time in my life. Being one of seven kids we were surrounded by dramatic occurrences, crazy life experiences, fearless bouts of travel, and freedom to explore the world. The stories in Triumph stem from this mix of moving locations but being stuck and needing wings to breakthrough the circumstances in each tale. I’ve been inspired by literary salons with Toby Brothers, writing groups and classes, books I’ve loved, and my own experiences.
Are lost women different from other women?
Yes and no, these girls and women are 'gone' and 'complicated' in that they're beyond the pale, they've moved or are moving beyond what's normal and expected of them, and yet in their movement they're not lost -- the movement is their way of finding themselves and forming themselves. I think everyone has been 'gone,' or 'complicated' -- lost, in some way, at some time of their lives, or right now.
How did you select the stories and hone them?
I looked at the gazillion of stories I've written -- even in the folder called 'Purple Prose' -- and I allowed myself to read them as if I were a stranger and therefore I liked some of them. Then I did what I always do and snipped them down as much as I could. The editing took months and months. When I edit my stuff, I print it out, I read it aloud, I read it out of sequence, I read it backwards to see if the sentences and words are solid enough.
Who do you think might love these stories?
All the stories feature female protagonists so misogynists can give it a miss.There's a big range in there with protagonists ranging in age from 6 to 60. There are kids, mothers, young women looking for their next boyfriend, a shoplifting teenager, a traumatized sort of au pair, a gal returning paintbrushes at 1am on a dark street with a car that crashes. There's 1st person narration, 3rd person and even 2nd person. There's a child who is drowning, family weddings, Parisian dinner parties where everyone drinks too much Cognac, a bone cave curator, India and enlightenment, and a waitress who can memorize orders for 8 people but can't stop drinking. There are the windows of Amsterdam's red light district and whale watching in Kaikoura, New Zealand. Something for everyone.
How has becoming a mother affected your work as a writer?
Gee. I could say that it's enhanced it by showing me how little the page means in the face of a teary-faced child who needs a hug.... I could say it's hampered it because of the lack of sleep.... Or I could say what mothers never say - and what my mother said to me: don't have kids, at all, if you want to have a life!, but I don't want to say that! No... having actual children meant I had no time but as they get older I have some time and it's a matter of juggling. So I learned to juggle. It's great to have life skills like juggling. I love juggling. That's the only answer I can come up with -- as I'm being interrupted by children who won't sleep as I type this.
Who are your favorite authors, your favorite books?
JRR Tolkien, Alice Munro & Italo Calvino as mentioned, Cormac McCarthy, Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, Nancy Mitford, Katherine Mansfield, Neil Gaiman, Dante, Gillian Flynn, Harper Lee, Eleanor Catton, Jo Nesbo; my favorite book is Wuthering Heights, which got me through childhood. :)
Do you have a favorite place to buy books?
Shakespeare and Company, WH Smith in Paris; my local library in Villennes, and 'delivering Amazon'... and every time I'm over in London I hit up the local WH Smith or Foyle's and go a bit mad.
What are you working on now?
I have a memoir coming out in late May entitled Xamnesia: Everything I Forgot in my Search for an Unreal Life and I'm working on Red Eyed, book one of a series called Polaroids. Lots of reading aloud going on.
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Lizzie Harwood’s love of her home country, New Zealand, spills over into her writing, as evidenced by the vibrant—and sometimes charmingly quirky—stories she tells. That isn’t to say she doesn’t adore her adopted country, France, where she currently resides with her husband and two children. She writes with a passion inspired by living and travelling around the world. When she isn’t writing, she’s neck-deep in editing at editordeluxe.com. Her short story collection, Triumph, is out in paperback and e-book on February 23, 2015.
For more information, please see editordeluxe.com, Lizzie Harwood Books on Facebook, and @lizziehbooks on Twitter for the latest.
