Page 12 - Real Style Summer 2019

BOOKS
MHAIRI MCFARLANE started out
as a reporter and columnist for
the Nottingham Post, but it was
her decision to write a novel at the
age of 31 that changed her life. Her
first, You Had Me At Hello, was a
huge hit in 2012, and since then
she hasn’t looked back. Her latest
novel follows the story of Georgina,
a woman who hits rock bottom in
both her career and love life, before
a chance encounter with an old
flame changes everything, while bringing back a dark secret she’d worked hard to forget.
Real Style: What was it about the Simple Minds’ song that made you decide it was perfect for the title of your novel?
Mhairi McFarlane: The title was originally Don’t You Want Me, after the Human League hit. The protagonist in the lyrics is working in a cocktail bar, the band is from Sheffield, it seemed perfect! However, the art department felt that was a little passive, a little needy, so we looked around for titles that conveyed the same sort of punchy yearning and hit upon the Simple Minds track. It’s got that yearning quality that I love.
RS: Georgina is so relatable—why do you think that is?
MM: She’s a managed mess, and I think that’s all of us, to some extent. And at 30, she’s not where she thought she’d be or where she wants to be. We’ve all had that sensation I think, of wondering if we’re on the right path, or the path “intended” for us. I love writing characters who are to some extent hiding behind a façade that is not quite the truth about who they are. Which again, is all of us!
RS: Was it a conscious decision when you sat down to write the novel to make it relevant to today’s news?
MM: The strange thing was, it absolutely wasn’t, and my editor could back me up on this. We
worked out this plot before the Harvey Weinstein scandal and Me Too, any of it. When those stories broke, I realised Don’t You Forget About Me would look intentional, but it wasn’t. Of course, it’s less of a coincidence when you realise these behaviours and traumas have always been part of society, it’s only our awareness and the level of media coverage that changed in Me Too. I felt very strongly that because these sort of experiences are part of many women’s lives, they have a place in women’s fiction and romantic comedy. There’s nothing in the rules that says rom coms have to always be light!
RS: What do you think needs to be done in order to change society’s perception of the romantic comedy?
MM: I think firstly, as said, there’s no reason
why darker, harder, more difficult and ugly things can’t be part of romantic comedy’s subject matter. They’ve fallen out of favour cinematically somewhat and I think that was partly because they got so silly. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Justin Timberlake organising flash mobs in Grand Central Station for Mila Kunis, but that sort of high concept froth had wandered a long way into unrelatable fantasy, and I think rom com’s magic is in a blend of reality and fantasy. With rom coms you have this incredible opportunity to talk about peoples’ lives as they’re lived now. I’m loathe to make rules, but I think topicality is key to the most successful work of the genre. Look at how Bridget Jones shone a light on women of the 1990s: ostensibly holding together the big city job, drinking loads of wine, falling out of taxis and getting patronised as a spinster by her family. People may roll their eyes at the clichés now but that column genuinely spoke to women about their reality, while providing the rom com thrills. It was a watershed in admitting professional people often behaved like teenagers with debit cards, behind the scenes. That’s where I think
the gold lies - tell us about women in all their messy glory, not some sugary sanitised version of womanhood who’s waiting to ditz her Size Zero way into the arms of a Hemsworth brother.
12 Real Style Summer 2019
PHOTO, MHAIRI MCFARLANE