The Wives

A Q&A with Tarryn Fisher

Authors often get asked about their inspiration for their books, but this is such a unique thriller! How did you come up with the idea for it?

My husband and I used to watch this show on Netflix about a man whose wife comes back to life five years after dying of cancer. Except she comes back to find out that he’s married to her best friend, and her best friend is nine months’ pregnant. I just have to tell you how stressful this show was to watch. I found myself rewriting the story in my mind, asking myself what I would do. And so for weeks I’d pound my husband relentlessly with questions. What would he do if I died and came back to life, and he was remarried? Who would he love more? Would he leave her for me? And you know what he said? “I’d just stay married to you both.” Wrong answer. I wanted him to choose me, but what if he couldn’t? What if it was more complicated than that? When I get that obsessed about an idea I know I have to find a way to write about it. That’s all I need: a scenario, and a rush of emotion, and I have a book idea.

Thursday has a singular voice. What was it like to develop that?

It’s always been my priority to listen very closely to what women have to say. For Thursday I assembled their stories into one voice. We suffer similarly.

You’ve published a lot of romance in the indie space, but this is your first thriller! How was it different to construct this kind of story? Did you find it easier? More difficult?

I am a character-centered writer, so I create a personality and then I drop that personality into a situation. It doesn’t really matter if you’re writing about how love kills people, or how other people kill people; a well-developed character will drive the plot.

Speaking of the indie space, you’ve had quite a lot of success in that sphere. What made you go with a traditional publisher this time, and how do these two experiences differ?

I think as an artist I’m unhinged, and so I write about unhinged people. Seven years ago “chick lit” was a thing. Women wanted to read “light” books and that’s what publishers were looking for. As a result my rejection letters all said the same thing: your protagonist is too villainous, women won’t relate. I laughed and then I self-published to prove them wrong. In the indie world women embraced my morally corrupt characters; they leaned in to the unreliable narrator. Meanwhile Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, Caroline Kepnes and a handful of other female writers were starting the trend in traditional publishing. There wasn’t space for a writer like me ten years ago, and now there is. So here I am.

What or who are some of your influences as a writer?

Stephen King. The literary majesty. The thing about Stephen King is that he could write in any genre. Any. He’s an intellect; he has a hawk’s eye for human nature. If he wanted to write a Pulitzer Prize—winning novel he could. He writes about the things we don’t want to acknowledge in ourselves: the raw ugly things. He writes about it with such ease it’s exciting. You can’t sit at better knees when learning how to write. All hail.

How did your feminism inform the writing of this story?

There’s definite allegory in Thursday’s story. I’m showing you a woman breastfed into the patriarchal model. That’s all of us, isn’t it? Just now we’re starting to make noise about it. But in order to collectively gather our female voices we had to be pushed to a breaking point. I wanted to write about a woman who was pushed too far, because we’ve been pushed too far.

That ending is such a shock! Did that come to you right away, or was it something that developed organically as you wrote the story?

It developed with Thursday. She was one thing at the start of the book and another by the end. Situations change us, push us into uncomfortable realities. The more I pushed Thursday, the more reckless she became.

The Wives is set in Seattle and Portland. You also live in the Pacific Northwest, though you grew up in Florida. What drew you to such a different climate?

Heat and sunlight make me miserable. I’m my best in moody weather. Washington State is very expressive: the people, the landscape, the weather. I’m always inspired here.

What books are on your nightstand?

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood, Followers by Megan Angelo, Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt.

What are you working on next?

It’s called Crawlspace, and I’ll leave it at that!