Q&A with Laura Marshall

Laura Marshall is the author of the new novel Three Little Lies. She also has written the novel Friend Request. She lives in Kent, England.

Q: Three Little Lies centers on a rape case. Why did you choose to focus on that, and how do you think the book resonates in the #MeToo era?

A: As we know all too well since the explosion of #MeToo stories on social media, sexual assault or harassment is something that has been experienced by pretty much every woman. I was interested in exploring the impact of that on my characters. I also wanted to tell a story where anybody could be lying.

Q: You tell the story from several perspectives. Did you focus more on one character before turning to the others, or did you write it in the order in which it appears?

A: I wrote it pretty much in the order it appears. When I’m writing a first draft, although I have a plan, I don’t always know exactly what’s going to happen, so I prefer to write chronologically. That way the story unfolds naturally, and I can adapt the plan as I go along.

Q: What do you think the book says about friendship?

A: The relationship between Sasha and Ellen suggests that we can never truly know our friends. Whilst I don’t think this is universally true, I have certainly had friendships in my life where there were things going on beneath the surface that I couldn’t see at the time.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I can’t start my writing day until I’ve had at least one cup of tea and one cup of coffee!

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Laura Marshall.