Emma Grey is the author of the new novel Pictures of You. Her other books include The Last Love Note. She lives in Canberra, Australia.
Q: What inspired you to write Pictures of You, and how did you create your character Evie?
A: This story emerged out of decades of conversations with friends, from high school onwards - long before we ever had language to describe coercive control.
In my 20s, before cell phones, I’d pick up the phone on a colleague’s desk and it would be her partner for the third or fourth time in a row, wanting to know where she was or who she was with. Even now, in my early 50s, with friends returning to dating following divorces or loss, they’re encountering these kinds of controlling relationships.
I wanted Evie to be a driven young woman with a strong sense of self and clear goals for her future. As Evie learns, it doesn’t matter how strong you are, how intelligent, how many letters you have after your name, you can find yourself in this kind of relationship.
I also wanted to give her an example of what real love looks like, so that the toxic relationship sits beside a very healthy, romantic and beautiful one - with great hope for her future.
Q: The writer Jill Santopolo called the book “a compelling and propulsive exploration of the way love can twist and morph into darkness and destruction.” What do you think of that description?
A: I thought this was a powerful way to describe what happens. By giving Evie’s character amnesia for the bulk of the story, and revisiting her at various points over the last 13 years, we’re able to see just how subtle and insidious that twisting and morphing becomes.
There is a hint of psychological thriller in Pictures of You and a mystery to be solved, which I think is what helps readers keep the pages turning. I had a reader let me know she woke up three times one night to keep reading.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: All I knew was that I wanted there to be a hopeful ending and a Plan B future for Evie. I’m a “pantser” (so feel I owe my editors an apology for the enormous changes my books go through during the writing process!). It took me 15 drafts to write Pictures of You. I have a “deleted scenes” document of 40,000 words.
With the dual timeline, I had many changes along the way in terms of where the story was broken up to aid the flow. It took me several drafts to work out the twists and figure out the forensic linguistics angle in the plot.
It’s the most complex and ambitious story I’ve ever attempted and had me tearing my hair out on multiple occasions. I’m so glad I stuck with it!
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: The title is so meaningful to me, and it works on multiple levels. Photography is a strong theme throughout the book - it’s a hobby I picked up myself during my years of grief over the loss of my husband, Jeff (the loss that influenced my previous book, The Last Love Note).
The title works on that level - Drew takes pictures of Evie and vice versa. It works for the amnesia angle - as she gradually receives her memories back, they’re in flashes, with pictures of Drew. And I think there’s a message here for us all, to keep ourselves firmly in the picture of our own lives.
The novel is published in the US with Zibby Books and in Australia by Penguin Random House. The title choice was a collective decision between all of us and it resonated with us immediately.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: My next novel, for early 2026, is called Start at the End. It’s an exploration of who really controls the narrative in a relationship, what we remember about how our lives unfold and what might have changed if one key event had happened differently.
After those 15 rounds of editing with Pictures of You, I’m finding being back in the drafting stage to be delicious!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I love to explore deep topics in my novels. It’s important to check the content warning that we’ve placed in the book.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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