Lucy Wadham Photo: Ben Nason |
In the world of writing, memoirs are usually a one hit wonder. Once you've used your life's material, that
source is exhausted and then it's time to move on to other topics. But British author Lucy Wadham triumphantly breaks
through this limitation, with the recent publication of two vastly different
memoirs: Heads and Straights, and So
French.
In honor of the London Underground's 150 anniversary this year, Transport for London and Penguin books teamed up to create a series celebrating life in London, in which each book was inspired by one of the 12 different Tube lines. Lucy was commissioned to write about the Circle Line which serves the Chelsea neighborhood where she grew up in the 1970s. Heads and Straights recounts Wadham's family experiences in the pre-Thatcher days of punk, drugs and rebellious teenagers.
"In Heads and Straights, Lucy creates a funny, moving account of a
group of people eager to escape the confines of class. Through interlocking
tales of their extravagant and often self-destructive journeys away from the
Circle line stops of Sloane Square, South Kensington and Gloucester Road, Lucy
evokes the collision between conformism and bohemian excess and the complicated
class antipathies that flourished in that particular time and place."*
Moving across la manche, Lucy examines the cultural differences between the
British and the French, in The Secret Life of France. Unlike most 'froglit', that unique genre of
British writers' fish-out-of-water experiences in France, Lucy gives us her
insider's perspective. With her marriage
into a Parisian bourgeois family, children in the French educational system, assignments
as an investigative journalist for the BBC, and over twenty years of living in
France, Lucy was well placed to give the insightful observations and amusing
anecdotes that made The Secret Life of France become a bestselling hit after
its release in 2009.
Following the success of The Secret Life of France, the eagerly awaited
French version (So French - L'amour
Vache d'une Anglaise Pour la France) was just released . For the launch of So French, Lucy's been busy
giving media interviews with the likes of TV5 Monde, Europe 1, and France
Bleu. So French also enjoyed an elegant
launch party on June 3rd, at a chic art gallery in the 6eme arrondissement,
complete with champagne.
In addition to the publication of these two books this spring, Lucy spoke
about Heads and Straights at the prestigious Hay Festival of Literature and the
Arts - aka The Woodstock of the Mind.
Prior to these memoirs, Lucy wrote three thriller and crime fiction novels:
·
Lost: 2000 short listed for the Macallan Golden Dagger
Award and optioned for the screen by John Malkovich
·
Castro's Dream: 2003
·
Greater Love: 2007
In January of this year at WICE's Write-In course, Lucy came to speak about
her experiences and journey as a published writer. Five months later, Lucy shows us that she's
having a blockbuster year with publications, interviews, and speaking
engagements. Not to mention that she's
also currently working on her next book, Bomb Damage.
What about you? Are you making
progress towards your life goals and dreams?
Need a jumpstart or motivation?
Then check out WICE's diverse selection of courses and events to find your own source
of inspiration.
To find out more about Lucy Wadham, visit:
http://www.lepetitjournal.com/international/france-monde/mag/155175-lucy-wadham-so-french-et-si-britannique (en français)
*source: lucywadham.com
Post by Veronica Kugler