Thoughts on broken systems

1

Your book addresses race, class and gender issues in a layered manner, showcasing the everydayness of living with prejudice. How important do you feel telling stories of precarious existences like Emira’s is in today’s deeply polarized world?

When I set out to write anything, a short story or a novel, it’s never because I feel the content or the issues are important. The story has to be gripping and real and the characters have to be interesting to me. I do like modern stories, and any story that includes domestic work must do the work of addressing race and the history that makes the transactional relationship still as fraught as ever. What’s most important to me as a reader and a writer is for a story to tell the truth.

2

It is interesting how the monetization of child care is presented. This difficult quantification of care-based labour, was that a concern you wished to address? My major concern was addressing how childcare is presented to the Chamberlains and Emira. As a reader, I feel that I take away new thoughts on big broken systems by getting lost in the tiny personal details of characters that become real to me. I loved the idea of Alix and Emira’s worlds coming together and colliding over the past and new boyfriend, when really, the care of Briar should be the main focus.

I think it’s interesting and heartbreaking that Emira offers wonderful child care, but the way her life is going is the same as many other black women, and she’ll never afford this level of childcare on her own. Showing Emira as a fully-fledged person, as well as a commodity in childcare, was very important to the story.

3

How has the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown affected your writing process?

The pandemic has definitely affected the travel and publication dynamics of my book tour. I was so disappointed to cancel so many events as I’ve learned that a book tour is where such lovely relationships can be made between authors and readers, but I’m even more thankful that I can stay safe and healthy. I’m writing just as much as before as I’m used to working from home, but I do find that I’m reading more. I used to only be able to hold one book in my head at a time, but lately I’ve been doing one fiction book, one book on tape, and one non-fiction book, and I’m able to keep them nicely separated in my mind.

4What are you working on next?

I’ll be working on the film adaptation of Such A Fun Age as well as very slowly starting on novel number two.

Simar Bhasin is an independent journalist. She lives in New Delhi.