Q&A with Kirsty Manning

  

 

 

 

 

Kirsty Manning is the author of the new novel Maisy Bell Is Missing, the second in her Charlie James mystery series. She lives in Australia. 

 

Q: Maisy Bell Is Missing is your second novel featuring your character Charlie James--do you think she’s changed from one book to the next?

 

A: The Charlie James we meet in book two is resilient. She’s finally divorced, understands Paris, has police contacts and has earned the grudging respect of her editor, George. She’s also prepared to trust her instincts and wants to have some fun.

 

Also, this Charlie James is confident in designer dresses and wants to feel great. What can I say, Charlie is glowing!

 

Q: What inspired the plot of this new novel?

 

A: My launching point for this novel was Janet Flanner's “American in Paris” columns in The New Yorker during the 1930s. Flanner writes with the intelligence and sass I try to imbue in Charlie James. I want my women to be every bit as worldly and wonderful as the female reporters in Paris at this time.

 

No spoilers, but the plot is based on a very famous case that went to trial that Flanner covered. That was the starting point … a case of a missing American tourist in Paris. 

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: I mostly read newspaper articles of the time, to get the voice. And I looked at a lot of fashion pages.

 

It surprised me, unfortunately, how little has changed in terms of victim-blaming for women. How can people still say that what women wear, how much they drink, who they see is responsible for how some men treat them? I didn’t need to research that, we see it every day in the media. 

 

Q: Can you say more about what you think Charlie’s experiences say about women in journalism during this period?

 

A: Charlie James is based on the early female correspondents at the turn of the century who were not given formal accreditation nor the support of their male colleagues.

 

The bones of Charlie’s character are drawn from Australian reporter Louise “Louie” Mack, borrowing elements (and plotlines) from other notable reporters like The New Yorker’s hilarious and savvy Paris-based correspondent Janet Flanner, Clare Hollingworth (who reported on World War II in Poland), Dorothy Lawrence (who dressed as a male sapper and served in the trenches in France), and the indomitable American Martha Gellhorn.

 

Charlie is without question a feminist, with views that sometimes surprise the French—and her family and friends.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Two glorious rom-coms for grown-ups…watch this space. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Kirsty Manning.