Lisa Taddeo
We may be in lockdown again, but Covid can’t stop us sharing some literary content to tantalise the right side of your brain.
Lisa Taddeo, bestselling author of Three Women, had a brief encounter with bookseller Chloe via email on her new novel Animal.
“In a haunting, visceral novel of women surviving men, Lisa Taddeo has produced one of the most compelling anti-heroines in fiction. Seductive and relentless, Animal draws readers closer to Joan and the brutal mystery of her past, holding them captive until the very last page.”
Animal has been hailed “an American Psycho for the #MeToo era” – in what ways, if at all, is that true?
I think that whenever there is a lot of rage/pain/gore, people feel the need to liken it to.
Three Women and Animal are centred on the exploitation of women, what was it that
made you decide this is what you needed to write about?
Because it’s all I think about.
Back in 2019, I asked you what processes you had when writing Three Women - what was
different about your process for writing Animal?
Animal is fiction and as such I needed only my brain. I wrote it under cover of night, in my kitchen, after my toddler had gone to bed. It was more of a fever dream for me. Less of something to “work” on
What part of Animal did you find the most invigorating / challenging to write about?
The miscarriage, something I’ve suffered and have heard many women have suffered, I wanted to accurately describe the pain of a loss that is hard to put into words
What’s next on your TBR pile?
Sally Rooney’s latest
Do you remember what the first piece of writing you were paid for was about?
Yes, I wrote a story about Hooters Air – I took a flight on the airplane and ate freeze dried cucumber sticks and everything
In what ways has your life changed since writing Three Women?
More screenwriting, less of the quiet mole writing life I wanted
What’s next from Lisa Taddeo?
My collection of stories, GHOST LOVER,
A reported work about grief.
Plus Animal as a film and Three Women as a series for Showtime