E. Lockhart: “‘Genuine Fraud’ Was a Way for Me to Explore My Own Rage”

Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your writing and behind your book?

E. Lockhart: Writing Genuine Fraud was way for me to explore my own rage, and to think about social class in America. Plus, I thought it would be fun to write a thriller.

What character do you most relate to and why?

Even though Jule (the antiheroine) does terrible things, and has many skills and much history that make her very different from me, her faults are my faults, dramatized and exaggerated. 

Why do you feel young adult books are so popular and have such a voice right now?

Young adulthood is a fascinating time of life. People reinvent themselves, separate from their families of origins, define themselves differently in relation to institutions like churches, schools, sports teams, and so on, often by rebelling.  That’s what Genuine Fraud is about — wrenching the self away from the past and into the future. 

Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from the read.

Genuine Fraud is the story of two young women who look enough alike to share a passport. It’s a thriller told backwards — you start with Jule in a highly dangerous situation, and go back in time, uncovering the mysteries that led her to that place. 

What’s next for you in the book world? 

My novel Again Again will come out in May 2020.  It’s about love.

What’s your favorite writing method that you follow for inspiration?

I don’t write in order, any more.  I plan out the story and then I write scenes in whatever order I want. It doesn’t have to be sequential.