Laura Fitzgerald: One True Theory of Love
Book Club Review

April 8, 2009. Queenie D chats with Laura Fitzgerald about her new book,
One True Theory of Love.

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

This is your second book that involves a character from Iran. What is your interest in the Persian culture?

My interest stems from the fact that I've been married to an Iranian man for 18 years and I've seen the sorts of questions he's constantly asked about Iran. I've also seen how eager Americans are to learn more about Iran.

My first book, Veil of Roses, was a direct look at the Persian culture. One True Theory of Love is much less so, and that was deliberate – Meg and Ahmed's differing cultures might flavor their relationship, but certainly they don't define it – which is consistent with most of the cross-cultural relationships with which I'm familiar, including my own.

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

Meg really seems to have trouble relating to her mother. I actually get the sense that she doesn't like her half the time. Even at the end, I didn't feel that their relationship had grown or changed much. Can you shed some insight on their connection?

Meg is willfully optimistic, willfully happy, while her mother has allowed herself to be in an unhappy relationship for thirty-odd years. They're intrinsically different in their approach to life, and I think Meg feels that her mother sucks her energy with all her negativity.

I like to imagine that as Clarabelle becomes happier, she and Meg might bond more. Clarabelle certainly seems at times to want to try and change that relationship, and I think Meg would be more than willing. But mother-daughter relationships are often fraught with baggage that's difficult to get beyond, and as yet they've been unable to get beyond theirs.

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

An underlying theme in this story is the failure of relationships. Whether it be Clarabelle and Phillip, Amy and David, or Meg and Jonathan, it seems that many of these marriages are fated from the start. What makes Meg and Ahmed different?

Interesting question. Meg never saw herself as a divorced woman. She was deeply in love with Jonathan up through and beyond the day he left her, and she never saw it coming. So in order for her to really have a chance with Ahmed, she feels she's got to learn what role she played in the demise of her marriage. Jonathan at first asserts she did nothing wrong, but it becomes pretty clear that Meg defined him only by who he was in relation to her -- rather than who he was as a person in his own right.

We've heard the statistics – half of all marriages end in divorce. The reasons are many, but I happen to believe that one of the most insidious ones is what Clarabelle says at the beginning of the book when Meg questions what Phillip ever did that was so wrong. "He stopped thinking I was someone special," she says. This is what Amy is fighting against in the course of the story, and I firmly believe she and David will stay together because she figured out what she needs independent of her marriage to feel fulfilled, and David supports her efforts. I like to think Meg and Ahmed will be okay, too. They both have much to give and every incentive to avoid complacency.

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

The intensity of Meg and Ahmed's relationship is palpable right from the first checker game. Do you think love really happens this way?

I think attraction absolutely can happen that way – it did for me when I met my husband. Can actual love develop from that palpable attraction? Sure. Need it? No. I wouldn't say Meg and Ahmed found love at first sight, but they certainly felt a strong connection.

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

I often felt sad about Ahmed's relationship with his family, especially his father. Will there be any resolution for him or is the point of the story that he's going to start a new family for himself?

I, too, feel sad for Ahmed because of his troubled relationship with his father. Beyond the context of One True Theory of Love, a resolution presents itself as his father becomes ill and finally needs Ahmed's help in a professional manner. One True Theory is actually a prequel to the story of Ahmed and his father, which I hope to write one day. And of course, as nothing can ever be easy, his desire to reconnect with his father puts him at odds with Meg and threatens the happy family life he's finally been able to build with her and Henry.

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

Which girl was going to get the ring?! Please put me out of my misery!

I ring was an impulse buy. Jimmy bought it for Tiara after spending a passionate morning in her room. (Sorry. You wanted me to say it was for Jane, didn't you?)

Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald

Can you tell us anything about your current writing projects?

Sure! I'm hard at work on a sequel to Veil of Roses, which should be out in the summer of 2010. It picks up after Tami's wedding and we get to see her struggle through not only typical newlywed issues, but also her quest to gain her residency. Her parents' story also comes to the forefront. It's quite a fun project for me to be working on – I thought everything wrapped up so nicely at the end of Veil of Roses, but that turns out not to be the case at all!

Return from Book Club Review: Interview with Laura Fitzgerald to Home