Sian Gilbert is the author of the new novel The Five of Us. Her other books include the novel I Did Warn Her. Also an educator, she lives in Bristol, UK.
Q: What inspired you to write The Five of Us, and how did you create your cast of characters?
A: The Five of Us was inspired by my time as a teacher during lockdown. I was teaching in 2020 when schools were first closed and the world became unlike anything we had ever known. Expecting young people to suddenly grapple with this alongside an already massive transitional period in their lives created a time of so much uncertainty.
A lot of people want to avoid the topic of lockdown entirely, and it is easy to understand why when there was so much sadness surrounding it. But I couldn't help but think of those young people and all the expectations they had for beginning their adult lives, and the fact this anticipation sometimes never followed through.
The cast of characters, a group of five girls only known by their bird nicknames, are completely fictional, but are absolutely drawn from the students I taught during this time.
In an author's note at the beginning of the book, I say that Crow, Cuckoo, Wren, Starling and Goldfinch are "an amalgamation of the confusion, anger and resentment that existed at the time and still does now."
I wanted them to be students who cared about their education and saw it as a means of achieving their dreams. I also wanted them to be relatable as teenage girls and follow them on their life journey into their turbulent adulthood.
Approaching them as both teenagers and adults was a very important part of the novel to me in order to demonstrate the significant impact lockdown had on their generation, and the consequences they are reaping for it in the years afterwards, all wrapped up in a twisty, dark academia thriller.
Q: The author Bruce Holsinger called the book a “brilliantly conceived story of rivalry, vengeance, and the terrible secrets that can lurk within even the closest of friendships...” What do you think of that description?
A: Firstly, I have to say, getting a Bruce Holsinger blurb was absolutely incredible! Bruce is such a nice guy and the fact he made the time out of his busy schedule to read this novel meant so much.
The description is a great one at getting to the heart of these characters. I wanted them to ultimately be realistic teenage girls, and anyone who has been a teenage girl or raised teenage girls (or taught them!) knows that friendships can be complicated.
They aren't perfect all of the time, and especially not when there is a dead body or two to contend with as there might be in this novel. There is jealousy, and pettiness, and love, and respect, and laughter, and tears, all wrapped up in relationships that feel the most important in the world.
Vengeance is a big theme in The Five of Us, for a variety of reasons, and the terrible secrets hang over not just the actions they commit in the first half of the novel as young people but directly impact their lives as adults in the second half. Is their behaviour justified? Readers will have to decide that for themselves.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: Without giving away any spoilers, the novel did change in its ending. For anyone who has read the book, they might be surprised by how the women are left, and I'd love to hear from readers their thoughts on it.
Initially, the ending was more what might have been expected, a more obvious consequence, shall we say. Instead I chose a different direction, and this links to the idea of hope within the book. Is their ending justified? I would be interested to hear what readers have to say about that!
I did also make changes along the way. One of the biggest changes was actually their names---originally, the girls went by their real names, and birds did not come into the equation.
But as they developed, something interesting happened. The idea of tying them down to a set name felt less right, and I wanted them to represent the wider generation as a whole. Birds were the obvious choice for how to go about that.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: If there is anyone that feels that same anger or resentment from what happened to them in lockdown, I hope this book speaks to them.
I hope anyone that enjoys dark academia appreciates the different take on that genre, situated within a comprehensive school and council flats instead of luxurious penthouse apartments and exclusive boarding schools.
It is a coming of age story, but it isn't written for young people today; it is for the generation that came up during lockdown and might be feeling a little lost in the tough world that remains.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Thriller number four (which feels wild to say!) has been written and gone through developmental edits. It hasn't quite been announced yet but will be very soon, and there is a lot of excitement around it. I cannot wait to share more!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: If you loved The Five of Us, do check out my other two thrillers, She Started It and I Did Warn Her, and you can follow me for all updates on me and the next book via my social media and website: @sianmgilbert or SianGilbert.com.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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