On Tuesday night, E. Lockhart, author of New York Times bestseller “We Were Liars,” spoke at Flyleaf Books.
Lockhart’s latest book, “Genuine Fraud,” is a suspenseful, psychological thriller targeted at young adults. She described it as “a story of two young women who look enough alike to share a passport.” The reader is left to uncover a story of a female antihero, identity, social class and friendship turned violent.
Staff writer Laura Shanahan spoke with E. Lockhart about her inspirations as a writer and her tips for aspiring authors.
The Daily Tar Heel: When did you decide you wanted to be a writer, and how did you know?
E. Lockhart: Well, I wanted to be a writer starting in the third grade. I wrote a lot of fan-fiction in the third and fourth grade of my favorite books and really fell in love with reading and writing then. But I got very distracted, you know, when I was a teenager and in college. I didn’t write creatively during those years, and I came back to it in my twenties.
DTH: Were there any books that inspired you to write? Do you have a favorite genre that you like to read?
EL: I write for teenagers, so I read a lot of my colleagues’ (work) and I’m often inspired by them. But really I would say that “Genuine Fraud,” my new book, is inspired by a lot of sources that range from comic books like "The Incredible Hulk" to "Jessica Jones," to a lot of Victorian orphan stories like "Vanity Fair" and "Great Expectations." So, it’s a pretty wide range of narratives kind of overlapping and influencing that novel.
DTH: The title of your latest novel, “Genuine Fraud,” is an oxymoron that really draws readers in. What should readers expect from this novel? Are there any other paradoxes that the reader may encounter beyond the title?
EL: Well, the title comes from the idea that you can live a fraudulent life for so long that you yourself — you the impostor — believe it. "Genuine Fraud" is an antihero story about someone who maintains a false identity for a long period of time.
