This was a little different. I’m not a big fan of interviews when I don’t know who the interviewer is. However, since I don’t speak or write French to ask questions of Helene Gremillon, I thought it would be interesting to publish the interview with the author of the psychological thriller, The Case of Lisandra P. The interview is courtesy of Penguin Random House.
Q&A with Hélène Grémillon, author of
The Case of Lisandra P.
A Penguin Original
Hello Hélène! You are
an internationally acclaimed author whose first novel is The Confidant. For American readers who are just getting to know
you, what draws you to the thriller genre? What inspires you as a writer?
an internationally acclaimed author whose first novel is The Confidant. For American readers who are just getting to know
you, what draws you to the thriller genre? What inspires you as a writer?
In writing, I’m above all interested
in suspense and psychological qualities. How do human beings feel ? How do
human beings react ? Love, hate… Their qualities, their flaws, and how much all
of that is subjective. The Confidant
was already based on that pattern. Jealousy was the main feeling I want to
develop in The Case of Lisandra P. It carries in its wake cruelty,
destructive paranoia, and sorrow for the victim but also in the person who
feels jealousy. Jealousy is infernal in nature. In comparison with The Confidant, The Case of Lisandra P. is
more in line with the thriller genre: Indeed there’s a corpse! A shrink’s wife
is found dead, the shrink is accused of murder, and one of his patients try to
prove he is innocent, looking for the real murderer among his others patients.
That is the pitch, the impulse which has driven my writing.
in suspense and psychological qualities. How do human beings feel ? How do
human beings react ? Love, hate… Their qualities, their flaws, and how much all
of that is subjective. The Confidant
was already based on that pattern. Jealousy was the main feeling I want to
develop in The Case of Lisandra P. It carries in its wake cruelty,
destructive paranoia, and sorrow for the victim but also in the person who
feels jealousy. Jealousy is infernal in nature. In comparison with The Confidant, The Case of Lisandra P. is
more in line with the thriller genre: Indeed there’s a corpse! A shrink’s wife
is found dead, the shrink is accused of murder, and one of his patients try to
prove he is innocent, looking for the real murderer among his others patients.
That is the pitch, the impulse which has driven my writing.
The
Case of Lisandra P., your current novel, is set in Buenos
Aires, Argentina in 1987 and the book notes it is based on a true story. How
did you get the idea for this book? Did you visit Buenos Aires during your
research?
Case of Lisandra P., your current novel, is set in Buenos
Aires, Argentina in 1987 and the book notes it is based on a true story. How
did you get the idea for this book? Did you visit Buenos Aires during your
research?
The Case of Lisandra P.
begins with “the book is based on a true story” but it’s a kind of a “lie”… The
book is not based on a true story, but this sentence won me, I was sure it was
the best one to start the novel, the best tone. To put me at ease with my
“lie”, my publisher told me “Hélène, the fiction can begin where the author
wants…” In a way I agree and I kept it! But no mistake, I didn’t want to
mislead my readers, it’s more mysterious. When I’m writing, I hesitate, I
doubt, then when something sounds obvious to me I can’t deny it. Nevertheless
everything I wrote about the historical context is perfectly true, in each
detail, and also the case of Miguel, one of the shrink’s patients.
begins with “the book is based on a true story” but it’s a kind of a “lie”… The
book is not based on a true story, but this sentence won me, I was sure it was
the best one to start the novel, the best tone. To put me at ease with my
“lie”, my publisher told me “Hélène, the fiction can begin where the author
wants…” In a way I agree and I kept it! But no mistake, I didn’t want to
mislead my readers, it’s more mysterious. When I’m writing, I hesitate, I
doubt, then when something sounds obvious to me I can’t deny it. Nevertheless
everything I wrote about the historical context is perfectly true, in each
detail, and also the case of Miguel, one of the shrink’s patients.
At the beginning, of course, I had
planned to make a trip in Argentine but the more I went on my writing, the more
my ideas were definite and bright, the less I wanted to go to Buenos Aires. I
was afraid to mix up everything in my mind. I just needed to stay and
concentrate behind my writing desk. Then I didn’t go.
planned to make a trip in Argentine but the more I went on my writing, the more
my ideas were definite and bright, the less I wanted to go to Buenos Aires. I
was afraid to mix up everything in my mind. I just needed to stay and
concentrate behind my writing desk. Then I didn’t go.
Your characters are
living in the aftermath of a brutal dictatorship. Their psychological scars run
deep. How did you begin to imagine these individuals?
living in the aftermath of a brutal dictatorship. Their psychological scars run
deep. How did you begin to imagine these individuals?
I never went to Argentina but I did
read a lot of books about the dictatorship, and I saw a lot of films. Then I
invented my characters with this stuff, the real events help me to imagine a
lot of situations. With my characters,
the first thing I imagined was to put in the novel three plain psychoanalytic
sessions, only dialogues, like three drama shows in the heart of the novel.
read a lot of books about the dictatorship, and I saw a lot of films. Then I
invented my characters with this stuff, the real events help me to imagine a
lot of situations. With my characters,
the first thing I imagined was to put in the novel three plain psychoanalytic
sessions, only dialogues, like three drama shows in the heart of the novel.
Your book opens with
the untimely death of a beautiful young woman and goes on to explore her
marriage to a psychoanalyst. What attracted you to the idea of writing about a
marriage after one of the pair dies mysteriously?
the untimely death of a beautiful young woman and goes on to explore her
marriage to a psychoanalyst. What attracted you to the idea of writing about a
marriage after one of the pair dies mysteriously?
My
book explores Lisandra’s marriage after she died mysteriously. Love is one of
my deep obsessions, this passionate feeling, alienating one, so different for
everybody. It is my main source of inspiration. Jubilant and painful.
book explores Lisandra’s marriage after she died mysteriously. Love is one of
my deep obsessions, this passionate feeling, alienating one, so different for
everybody. It is my main source of inspiration. Jubilant and painful.
What do you like to
read? Who are some of your favorite mystery/thriller authors?
read? Who are some of your favorite mystery/thriller authors?
I love mystery authors, they are my
favorite to read. I love classics like Georges Simenon, a prolific French
author, Maurice Leblanc, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, I remember
even how much I loved the children’s books Alfred Hitchcock wrote, gorgeous.
And I have recently read two books I found really good, Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson and The Ice Twins by S.K. Treymane. I had to stop this last one in the
night because I was so afraid I had to wait for the sunrise to go on reading…
The proof the thriller won!
favorite to read. I love classics like Georges Simenon, a prolific French
author, Maurice Leblanc, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, I remember
even how much I loved the children’s books Alfred Hitchcock wrote, gorgeous.
And I have recently read two books I found really good, Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson and The Ice Twins by S.K. Treymane. I had to stop this last one in the
night because I was so afraid I had to wait for the sunrise to go on reading…
The proof the thriller won!
About the AuthorHélène Grémillon was born in France in 1977. After obtaining degrees in literature and history, she worked as a journalist at the French newspaper Le Figaro before becoming a full-time writer. Her first novel, The Confidant, was awarded Monaco’s Prince Pierre Literary Prize. She lives in Paris with her partner, singer and songwriter Julien Clerc, and their child.
About the TranslatorAlison Anderson is an American writer and translator based in Switzerland. Her translations include J. M. G. Le Clézio’s Onitsha, Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and Hélène Grémillon’s first novel, The Confidant.
THE CASE OF LISANDRA P.
A Novel
Hélène Grémillon
Translated by Alison Anderson
Translated by Alison Anderson
A Penguin Paperback Original | Penguin Books | 9780143126584| 304 pages | On sale: January 12, 2016| $16.00
