Chloe Seager is the author of the new novel P.S. You're the Worst. Her other books include Open Minded. She is also a literary agent, and she lives in London.
Q: What inspired you to write P.S. You're the Worst, and how did you create your character Becky?
A: Unsurprisingly, I was in the depths of a huge quarter-life crisis when I wrote P.S. You’re the Worst. I’d just moved out from living with my partner and back into a house share (with six other people!) and it felt like my personal life was on fire.
I’d recently started therapy, so I was doing a lot of self-reflection, and I think Becky was borne out of all the most immature, insecure parts of me that I was taking a hard look at.
Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Becky and Max?
A: Comforting but toxic. In many ways they do care about each other, but I think they both know they don’t belong together. They allow each other to linger in a state of nostalgic escapism and use each other to avoid tough adult realities. Ultimately, they hold each other back.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I knew! I’m a planner. To feel motivated to get to the end of a story I have to know where it’s going, because the end point of an emotional journey is what makes me want to sit down and write.
Q: The Booklist review of the novel says, “Readers who enjoy sympathetic depictions of messy women figuring out adulthood...will find a lot to enjoy.” What do you think of that description?
A: I would agree! I think now, more than ever, we live in a state of comparison with other people. Partly because everyone’s highlight reels are constantly put in front of us on a screen and partly because there’s less of a set route to follow.
Our parents’ generation had more rules and age milestones, which I’m glad we don’t, but equally figuring out adulthood feels like a bit of a free-for-all. There’s less pressure to get married and have children but the perceived amount of choice – of dates, of careers, of everything – feels overwhelming.
On top of that, everything is 10x more competitive
than it used to be. So all these things are apparently on offer, but can feel
out of reach. There’s also a lot of pressure to present like everything’s
perfect. So, I’m very sympathetic to anyone who’s openly messy and doesn’t have
it all figured out.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m actually working on something romantic for the first time in my life. TBD whether I can successfully write characters falling in love, rather than cackling as their relationship goes down the toilet.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Life would be very boring if we had everything worked out, all the time. And don’t take tarot cards literally.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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