Books / Heather Child
Author Heather Child on social media, AI and her home city as an inspiring force
Based in Bristol, Heather Child is a prize-winning short story writer and novelist formerly published by Orbit (Little, Brown) – whose recent books include The Undoing of Arlo Knott and the dystopian thriller Every Thing About You.
Over a wide-ranging career, she has also spent time working in the charity sector, and has a longstanding interest in sustainability.
As a result, she has opted to release her forthcoming novel The People’s Republic of Love with the world’s first ‘climate-positive’ publisher, SRL Publishing.
In the run-up to the launch on March 30 at Bookhaus, Child shared insights with Bristol24/7 about how this particular book was born.
The People’s Republic of Love – photo: Heather Child
Where did the seeds for this novel come from?
“In The People’s Republic of Love, celebrities and influencers have their own country. There are no politicians – the person with the most followers makes the rules.
“From the beginning I wanted to test the seductive power of online visibility, to create an unlikely Narcissus-like character and see if she could break away from her own beautiful, transfixing reflection. We all need attention, but what happens when it becomes an addiction? Can someone truly be happy living as the self they have created for public display?”
How did you build the characters of Charlotte and Tamsin – and how do you relate to them? Did it change as you developed your narrative?
“Tamsin is a shy tunnel engineer, while her childhood friend Charlotte lives in the spotlight as a reality TV star.
“Tamsin is practical and private – my kind of person – and at first I feared seeing Charlotte as shallow or driven only by fame. However, as I developed her backstory, and the tragedy that fuels her need for attention, she began to feel more complex and human. Over the course of the novel, she learns how to be on her own again.
“Throughout the story, these once-inseparable friends continue to reflect and echo each other, even as they transform into completely different versions of themselves.”
Heather Child – photo: courtesy of the author
As a Bristol-based writer, in what ways does the city inspire you in your work?
“I love being part of Bristol’s lively literary scene – the indie bookshops, bookish events and creative networks. In The People’s Republic of Love, Tamsin studied in Bristol and turns the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel into a kind of imaginary mentor. Whenever she’s in a tight spot, she envisions how Brunel might have dealt with it, never realising that she is channelling someone with a mighty ambition – that her ‘go big or go home’ mindset could lead to trouble.
“I enjoyed researching Brunel, who was certainly ahead of his time. Just one example is that his ship, the SS Great Eastern, the biggest ship in the world when built in 1858, once sustained a far worse tear in its hull than the SS Titanic, but carried its passengers safely onwards to New York.”
How do you think you personally would fare in The People’s Republic of Love?
“I’d feel uneasy, wandering among clipped lawns and pristine beaches, waiting to be escorted away by drones for not being beautiful enough or breaking one of the Governor’s ‘batshit crazy’ rules. If I tried to swim away the jellyfish would get me. I wouldn’t last long.”
Photo: Heather Child
You have previously written about AI, and this book examines our increasingly reliance upon public affirmation in the digital space in order to feel internally fulfilled. How would you define your own relationship with social media?
“Even as the characters in this book delight in the attention they get through social media, I think I’m teaching myself to view it with even more suspicion. It’s easy to start overvaluing other people’s reactions, and undervaluing yourself alone as a witness to your life. It can become about documenting first, living second.
“Avoiding social media is, of course, easier said than done, since visibility makes things happen – sells books, gets jobs, wins elections. Visibility is a currency.”
You have chosen to publish this book with SRL, the world’s first climate-positive publisher. What does this mean to you?
“As someone who has worked in sustainability, I think SRL are ahead of the curve. In future it will sound wild that traditional publishing pulps an estimated 77 million unsold books a year. SRL are climate-positive and plant a tree every time you buy a book from their website. They are also interested in starting conversations, and therefore happily unfazed by a dark, inquisitive, genre-crossing novel like The People’s Republic of Love – luckily for me.”
Heather Child – photo: courtesy of the author
Heather Child: The People’s Republic of Love is published on March 31 by SRL Publishing, and available for preorder now. The official launch is at Bookhaus Bristol on March 30 at 6pm; tickets available here. Follow the author @heatherika1.
Main photo: Khadeeja Yasser (Unsplash)
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
