The Fallen Queen (Winner of the Write Way Award 2013) #Wattys2015 #MyWattysChoice #Featured

Interview with the Writer : Common Questions about the Book

**SPOILERS**

1) Why did you write this book?

I thought it could touch many people. I believe problems between parents and children are common, especially during the teenage years. I wanted to write a book about the psychological confusion one can feel growing up when this happens.

I also wanted to talk about anorexia in a different way. I didn't want to focus on what anorexia (or any other eating disorder) is but rather on how it can appear; in a context that doesn't involve the media. Some say there are some genetic factors to it, others say it is purely cultural. I think it's a mix of both. Although the media could play a role, it is not always the main factor. It's a disease that affects kids, teenagers and adults alike. Marie did not do it to lose weight and look like models. I didn't do it for that either. The obssession for losing weight is a symptom, not a cause. We don't become anorexic because we want to lose weight. Perhaps it is, instead, that some people wanting to lose weight already have some anorexic tendency and it degenerates with that. Am I being clear?

2) You said the book was loosely based on your life. How true is the story?

A lot of things are true. This is my first work in English, so I felt more comfortable writing about things I personally experienced. I added a few details to add imageries and details to the story, making it more interesting.

All of Angie's story is true, at least to the best of my knowledge. It recounts my mother's life. Marie's story is loosely based on my life. I have an older brother with autism, and a younger sister with blonde hair. I also have another brother, younger, with blonde hair. He is not in the story because I felt it would only bring confusion to add another character. Instead, I mixed some things that happened with him with my other siblings.

I was physically abused as a child but not as much as Marie. My parents just stuck with slapping. For me. My mother did plunge m sister's head into a bucket full of water because she didn't find the water soapy enough.

My mother never saw her dead mother, nor lived anything paranormal. I never saw anything like that either. At least, I don't think so. I was just very very scared as a child, and my parents somewhat encouraged this imagination of mine. For being religious, they believed in that stuff.

My parents were in a religious cult. It was a cult because they highly discouraged any contact with people that were not part of the church, unless you wanted to teach them about God. Other things described are true too, but if you see them in other religions, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a cult. I think they are just signs of anti-feminism: girls had to wear dresses, stay at home, have preferably one kid per year, married young to people from the church, could not speak in church and had to obey their husband because he is the head of the family.

My mother did have a friend who burned herself to death because the pastor didn't let her take antidepressants. At the time, my mother was also going through a depression. There was also a deaf woman who hung herself, but I never knew her personally.

I had imaginary friends when I was a kid, but not while I was anorexic.

2) So...you almost died eating potatoes?

Haha. Yes :) Fed by my older brother. I find it funny that this detail is remembered by so many people.

3) I didn't understand well. Was Marie sexually abused by her mother's lover?

Yes. I had a hard time writing this part of the book, which explains why it is so unclear. I didn't want to go into the details. It wasn't Ana who saved Marie that night, it was her mother. She hit him and he drove off, but had a car accident and died. Nothing paranormal here.