Q&A with Fran Hawthorne

 

Photo by Jolene Siana

 

 

Fran Hawthorne is the author of the new novel Her Daughter. Her other books include the novel I Meant to Tell You. Also a journalist, she lives in Brooklyn. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Her Daughter, and how did you create your character Alice?

 

A: Some years ago, when I was picking up my son from kindergarten, I saw that the classroom aide was clearly upset. Once we began to talk, it spilled out: Her ex-husband had persuaded her two oldest daughters to cut her off completely, and now they were pushing the youngest daughter to join them.

 

As a mom myself, I was socked in the gut. Why would a father do this? How does the other parent cope--survive--fight back? How does this manipulation warp the child's ability to love or trust?

 

And as I started thinking and talking about this situation, I kept meeting parents (usually but not always mothers) who had been through the same kind of deliberate estrangement. In fact, it's estimated that millions of people have been victims of this treatment--awful as that is to believe.

 

There are good self-help books available, but I know that sometimes fiction can be a better salve than practical advice. So I wanted to write a novel for these parents, to show them they're not alone.

 

Alice--like most of my characters--partly created herself. I inherently knew the basics: Alice had to be somewhat passive and clueless at first, or else how would Dan have managed to gaslight both her and Esme in the early years? Yet she had to grow more self-aware, or the reader would get annoyed with her.

 

Then, as I began writing, Alice increasingly pushed herself forward. For instance, several times she complained: You're making me sound like a crazy woman. Tone me down!

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Alice and her ex-husband, Dan?

 

A: At the start, he toys with her--in large ways and small--and she doesn't realize it. Over time, the more she senses that something is wrong, the angrier and more controlling Dan becomes, while still hiding under his veneer of "normality." Alice feels like she can never find her footing; Dan keeps twisting the knife.

 

Q: The writer Jennifer Rosner said of the book, “Part mystery, part family drama, Her Daughter is a poignant, page-turning, emotional read.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: First, I want to think Jennifer Rosner for that lovely comment! I'm so glad she saw these two--almost contradictory--aspects of Her Daughter.

 

It's certainly a family drama that I hope resonates with readers in sparking reactions like pain, love, guilt, and fear. At the same time, it's also a quest to solve a set of mysteries: why was Esme arrested? why did she cut her mother off so harshly? what role did Dan play--and is still playing?

 

Q: What do you think the novel says about parental alienation and parent-child estrangements?

 

A: I hope readers will take away the message that this is a real and serious problem, and it's not the victim's fault. There truly are parents who intentionally try to alienate their children from the other parent.

 

Because these alienator-parents look like "us," and because it's hard to believe that parents would emotionally abuse their own children in this way, they often fool relatives, friends, casual observers, the children, and the other parent into thinking they're acting reasonably.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I hesitate to talk much about works-in-progress; I guess I'm too superstitious? I can say that my newest novel focuses on a set of sisters, which is a relationship I haven't explored in fiction before.

 

All of my novels are set in different parts of the U.S., yet always locales I'm somewhat familiar with. Thus, this one takes place mainly in the suburbs of New York City and also a bit in Philadelphia and in Albany, NY.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Because of my journalism background, I obsessively research every little detail in my novels, to make sure it's all accurate.

 

For Her Daughter, I drove up the winding Pacific Coast Highway steering one-handed while dictating scenic descriptions into my phone; explored the smelly lagoon at UC Santa Barbara; and stopped for lunch at the over-the-top Madonna Inn. (Unfortunately, I didn't find the Inn's guest room with the waterfall in the bathroom.)

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Fran Hawthorne.