Michael Lee West: Mermaids in the Basement
Book Club Discussion
October 4, 2009. Michael Lee West discusses her novel,
Mermaids in the Basement, with Queenie D.
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
How
did this story evolve? Did you start with a particular character or a relationship? I would have to bet on Shelby and Louie's story being the one that set things in motion.
The
idea for Mermaids began in Perdido Key, Florida in the late 1980s, right after I'd finished my first novel. My parents were spending the
winter in Perdido, and I went down with my family for a visit. I put the notebook away and started working on another book. Years later, Louie and
Shelby wandered into my mind while I was working on my fifth book, and I knew they needed their own novel. So, you are right!
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
I
can't decide if Renata has little to no self-esteem or if she unknowingly sees herself as unimportant to a man because of her relationship with
her father. Either way, she is apparently a beauty but doesn't know it! Can you shed some insight into this part of her personality?
Her
parents' divorce left scars. Louie loved his daughter, but he was wrapped up in himself. I am married to a physician, and he is 180 degrees from
Louie, but I sure have seen some MDs who develop "the white coat syndrome." Louie had it bad. He was a heart surgeon, putting people back together,
yet he didn't seem to know the first thing about nurturing his own family. Like many children of divorce, Renata blamed herself. She thought she
had come to terms with her father until her mother died unexpectedly. Then, all of those unresolved issues returned. When she sees Ferg's photo in
the tabloid, the problem deepens. Renata was just a wreck!
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
I
felt like true love was the underlying vehicle of this story. Louie and Shelby truly loved each other. Honora truly loved Shelby. Ferg truly
loved Renata. Gladys truly loved Honora. Isabella truly loved Louie...the web of characters who truly loved another character is complex. It
speaks to the fact that we don't just love who we are meant to - husbands, children, siblings - true love knows no bounds. So tell us, in your
opinion, whose love is the greatest true love of all?
They
were all great loves, some more tragic than others.
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
Why
did Louie go to Jamaica alone instead of staying home with his almost wife and sick daughter? Are we supposed to see this as selfish or as a continuation
of his desire to make Shelby pay for Kip?
That's
just another facet of Louie. He'd made the reservations, he had the plane tickets, he needed the CMEs (Continuing Medical Education). And you are
so right—he had his own baggage with Shelby. So off he went.
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
Was
Isabella a happy woman?
Isabella
is a blend of darkness and light. On the surface she's cracking jokes but inside, she's like a scooped-out bell pepper, a roasted pepper, all dark
and charred and wrinkly. Wrinkles of the soul. She was ambitious and ruthless. In Mad Girls in Love, she had an affair with Louie (he was
married to the very pregnant Bitsy at the time). Isabella has no one to blame for herself. However, I don't see her as self aware—she has no idea
that she's unhappy. She drinks, takes pills, visits Honora, and slips various pharmaceuticals into party food. The woman should be wearing stripes,
and not designer stripes!
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
I
love that Honora "releases designer handbags into the wild." How did you come up with this quirky trait? If you know of a place where this really
happens, please tell me! I could use a Jackie O Gucci!
I
wish I knew, too. The idea just popped into my head, and it was perfect for her.
Book Club Discussion: Interview with Michael Lee West
Can
you tell us anything about your current writing projects?
I
just finished a new novel, Gone With A Handsomer Man. I'm putting the finishing touches on it now. I should have a pub date soon. GWAHM is
the first "Teeny" book—a character who bakes cakes at Harris Teeter and keeps a rather wacky recipe book. She ends up on the wrong side of the
law when her fiance is murdered. Lots of food in this book! I ate constantly while writing. :-) I also have a blog designsbygollum.com
with a weekly recipe meme.
You didn't ask about my writing habits, but I pretty much hunker down and write—sometimes 18 hours a day. I don't have an office—I work in a
corner of the family room (but put a folding screen around me. I plug in my iPod and tune out. I started making outlines two books ago, and they
do keep me on track. I have no qualms whatsoever about deviating from the outline—in fact, I look forward to the sideroads.
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