About the Book:
When Cat has the chance to escape Cornwall and spend the summer on the French Riviera with some rich family friends, she jumps at the opportunity. There she meets a group of people who don’t seem to have a care in the world. Henry is different though, more interesting; she falls for him, he falls for her . . .
Yet Henry has secrets. Strange circumstances surround the death of his mum a few years earlier – and when he invites Cat to his eerie French countryside mansion for a few days, she thinks she could help him get to the bottom of things by doing some digging into past crimes.
But not everyone wants the case to be investigated . . .
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Emily Barr started out working as a journalist in London, but always hankered after a quiet room and a book to write. She managed, somehow, to get commissioned to go travelling for a year, and came home with the beginnings of a novel set in the world of backpackers in Asia. This became Backpack, a thriller which won the WH Smith New Talent Award, and she has since written eleven more novels for adults, one novella, a sci-fi horror novel and five books for Young Adults, published in the UK and around the world. She lives in Cornwall with her husband Craig and their children.
Interview:
Pitch your book in 10 words!
Lies, secrets, podcasts and murders on the glitzy French Riviera
LIES WE TOLD THIS SUMMER is a 21st century reimagining of Austen’s NORTHANGER ABBEY. What were the biggest challenges with working with such well known classic?
I was listening to an audiobook of Northanger Abbey a couple of years ago, when I realised it had so many resonances with YA, and the idea wouldn’t leave me alone. I loved the story of a girl being taken into a new world by rich family friends, meeting new people and then starting to suspect that there might be something dark going on…
I initially tried to stick closely to the Austen, but (trying to avoid spoilers here) I decided to let things take a darker turn. I ended up taking Northanger Abbey, which I absolutely adore, as a starting point and inspiration, rather than as a template, and had fun with it.
If you had to choose the perfect French holiday, would it be the chic apartment by the sea or the rambling chateau in the mountains?
I’d take the chic apartment by the sea every time! I love sea swimming, love people watching, and there’s something about sitting at an outdoor table in the golden evening sunshine that is totally magical (this sentiment may have manifested in the book).
Austen creates incredible characters and you have perfectly translated them into the 21st century, however they’re not in the same story. How did you decide who the villain was going to be? Was it inspired by the source material or did something else spark the identity in your mind?
Without wanting to give anything away, I’d always wondered what might happen if Austen’s Catherine had uncovered something as dramatic as the things she imagines. That was the starting point, and after that I just ran with it! My editor, Ruth, helped me move away from Jane Austen (because I’m sadly never going to be her) and to let the story twist and turn its way into a modern thriller.
Whilst the original Catherine Morland is obsessed with Gothic Novels, our 21st century Cat Morland loves true crime podcasts. Do you have a favourite true crime podcast or podcast you relax to?
I am a huge fan of podcasts! My favourite true crime ones are stories like Scamanda, that involve unravelling a complex web and uncovering the truth. I’ve listened to many of the seasons of Serial. There’s a series called ‘Sport’s Strangest Crimes’ that I absolutely love (the series about the Superbowl streaker is a joy). I steer clear of podcasts that feel that they’re exploitative, and love it when there’s justice served at the end.
One of the key incidents in the book is the not-a-date with Jonno. Why did you choose to depict that date and his behaviour in the aftermath in the way that you did?
I think dating can be such a minefield for everyone, and for young people in particular. I wanted that disastrous date to show both parties’ vulnerabilities. First of all, Cat’s: she’s inexperienced, unsure of herself, and knows that she doesn’t really belong here, so when she goes for what she thinks is a drink with a friend, and finds that he’s actually seeing it as a date, she panics. Women are so conditioned to be ‘nice’ that it can be hard to be assertive and she has no idea how to respond.
And Jonno has grown up with immense privilege, but is still working out who he is. The fact that his instinctive reaction to being rejected is anger and then defensiveness makes him realise, later, who he does and who he doesn’t want to be.
Cat and her mum have a difficult relationship but Cat clearly wishes her mum was around to support her when things get rough. What made you want to explore a mother-daughter relationship from this angle?
Cat has many younger half-siblings, and I was interested in looking at the idea of a child being ‘parentified’ – being expected to take on responsibility for younger siblings to help out, and so losing a part of their own childhood. Cat’s mum never quite intended to have so many kids, and at the beginning of the book she’s really struggling, while Cat is facing a summer spent changing nappies, and feeling so guilty about wanting to go to uni that she hasn’t even mentioned it at home.
I knew that when she broke out of that cycle there would be guilt and resentment on both sides, and I was really interested in what would happen when Cat found herself in a situation where she really, really needed her mum. Would her mum be able to turn her attention to Cat, and would they be able to forge a new, adult relationship?
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love.
THE MYSTERY OF HINXFORD COURT* by Jamie Costello. I recently read a proof of this and absolutely inhaled it. It’s clever, emotional, twisty and totally gripping.
Thank you, Emily!
*Affiliate link
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