This is a story with many themes – the double-edged sword of nepotism, imposter syndrome, the loneliness and challenges of being a writer, maternal guilt, how success doesn’t always bring happiness, and how life events can change flawed characters helping them to grow and develop.

Abramson’s characters are richly portrayed and often not very likeable, but importantly, not hateable either. Abramson succeeds in making the reader care about some of the more frustrating and flawed protagonists. What’s more, the book is never boring, not for an instant. The story jumps around time wise, includes a story within a story and is told from four very different points of view. And while there’s a lot going on, it’s easy to follow. Abramson never loses sight of the plot or the reader.

Here’s my Q&A with the New York-based author.

You open your book with two wonderful quotes –

“Well, I’ve been afraid of changing, ‘Cause I’ve built my life around you” Stevie Nicks

and

‘Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” Albert Camus

They sum up your novel so well. Can you tell us any more about how these two quotes inspired your story telling.

I was driving one day when the song Landslide came on, and when I heard that line (and the ones after it, ‘but time makes you bolder, even children get older, I’m getting older too’) and I thought, that is exactly Isabelle’s story. She builds her whole life around her father and then realizes she must dismantle it (but because of copyright laws I could only use the first two lines!)

The Camus I came upon while cleaning out a bookcase of old high school books and I thought that it was so perfect for Claire. I love that the quotes really capture the arcs of the two women in the story.

Your title- A Likely Story – is first mentioned in the story within the story Underpainting: “So Livia thinks she’s the mastermind behind Aiden’s success? Oh please, a likely story.” Can you tell us about the title and how you decided on it?

The book was originally sold under the title, The Writers Daughter, which I liked because for the first half of the book you think it refers to one parent, and by the second half you realize it refers to the other. But I do think A Likely Story is more intriguing and subtle and fits the book better. It gets at the idea of how much is missed if we just believe the obvious version of stories and don’t peel back the layers to look at what’s really going on. And it also elevates the theme of women’s contributions to art and how often they are overlooked.

You can read the rest of my Q&A here on 26.

August, 2023

The post Q&A with Leigh McMullan Abramson- A Likely Story appeared first on Elena Bowes.

I didn’t give much thought to what the adjustment would be like, although my friend Natalie warned me:

“People say it takes a year to adjust to a new city. But I think it’s two.”

What about a new city and a  new roommate? Does that make the number bigger or smaller, I wondered.

I guess it depends on how well you know the person. Who knew a person, yes, that person, could cherish his framed maps so much? Or consider pretty objects on a table “clutter”, or a full fridge a sign of food going to waste? Or not know who Nicole Kidman is.

Who is that lady? Stretch asked last night when the somewhat stunning,  Academy-award winning Australian actress appeared in a commercial.

That would be Valentine’s night when Stretch spotted the Australian lady on the screen. We were watching TV, more specifically, we were watching Olympic skating. As the Dutch won the Gold (poor America, poor Stretch), I wondered whether I could sneak off and have a bath.

Sometimes Stretch says things which I don’t really follow. Correction: I have no idea what he’s talking about.

That’s a license to hunt.

They’re drinking from the firehose.

Time to call an audible.

Despite not understanding much of what Stretch says, he seems to understand me  fine.  The toilet  seat is now always down. He tiptoes in the early morning and knows to remain calm when I am not. I wish I could bottle his patience, his zen-ness. I’m beginning to think the mark of a good relationship is not how well you get along, but how well you get along when you’re not getting along.

With all the change going on in our lives, I suggested we talk to a couples’ counselor or “communications advisor”, as Stretch prefers to call  my favorite wiseman, Shomit Mitter.  Shomit Skyped us from London where he lives and works. He saw no problems in the relationship although he did suggest I exhibit more patience when Stretch comes up with decorating ideas.

Don’t just say ‘No’, listen to him, Shomit said.

I do, I replied. Look at all our maps.

Shomit thinks my problem settling into the city is one of logistics, that I am frazzled because I don’t have a structure to my day.

So I hired a dog walker, found an IT person and a cleaner. And to assimilate more, I have joined a gym. New Yorkers  love to work out – they work hard and play hard.

In London my pilates teacher Violetta came to my flat. She spent as much time teaching my dogs Russian as overseeing  my pelvic floors. Caroline at Equinox isn’t so sweet. Her box of tricks includes  pulleys, weights, ropes and squats. I always arrive late, but torture is torture whether it’s 50 or 60 minutes.

The yoga teacher at the gym is kinder. She tells our class to get into the fetal position – love that.

You are  like a seed, she starts. You are creating the new you, you are writing your book. Too often people get stuck in the same chapter, circling around. This is an invitation to write your own story, the way you want to see yourself in 5 years, 10 years. What’s it going to be? You are the author.”

I think of Stretch when he comes home after work.  I hear him playing with the dogs. He takes off his coat, rounds the corner and there he is.

A story to be continued.

February, 2018

The post Lost in Transition – Adjusting to a New City and a New Roommate appeared first on Elena Bowes.

Bring a friend (human) on the flight so that when you want to get a book from the overhead compartment, snooze or use the loo, there’s someone to assist.  I brought my friend Nancy.

Nancy is many things – chic, honest, lively, funny and kind – but I discovered  one thing she is not,  a dog lover.  So there was no napping, reading or visits to the loo. But lots of entertainment.

I was prepared to be turned back at any moment on this canine adventure. But that moment never came. The trip was surreal, wandering through the airport, no other dogs in sight. The only hiccup came when we exited the plane at JFK. Josephine thought she was finally on “hard ground”, dog-not-loving-Nancy screamed in disgust and other passengers followed suit. Apart from that – smooth sailing.

Jumped the queue at check in …

Got frisked at Gatwick …

All clear, thank goodness …

Time for a drink in the lounge …

Listening to Nancy …

Welcome to New York

and Lincoln Center …

Here’s my tried ands tested how to guide:

Vaccines & Pet Passport -The big requirement for the USA and the Pet Passport is that the dogs have a rabies vaccination. My UK vet  helped with both the vaccine and the passport, as well as getting the dogs microchipped, a requirement of the passport.

Getting them certified as Emotional Support Animals –
We used Certapet. They were pretty darn wonderful. You fill out a questionnaire and explain your situation and a certified therapist reviews your case.  They then determine if your animal can classify as an Emotional Support Animal. Ant and J qualified with flying collars, which meant they could fly at my feet or in my lap or both.

Being ESA also means that I can take them anywhere in the US, as long as I have their Certapet-provided  photo I.D.’s. – They’ve been to the Metropolitan Museum, Sant Ambroeus, Grand Central Station, Greenwich,  and Astoria, Queens. Michelangelo was a hit.

Finding the right airline –
The major airlines that would allow pets on transatlantic flights would only allow them in the hold. Assistant dogs are treated slightly different than ESA so even when Guide dogs were allowed up front, ESAs were not.  Norwegian was the only airline we found that would allow ESA dogs up front with me. And they fly direct to New York City. Their Premium Economy is pretty good, and the staff are very friendly. Try and get a window seat to limit sniffing options.

Gatwick:
Where do they go to “go”?
The airport has rest stops but we never went. We just checked in, headed straight to passport control and the lounge. We, or rather they, never used the wee pads for the plane, apart from as flimsy carpets to lie on. Don’t feed or water them before you board.
What to do when you get there?
Remember to declare the dogs at customs. I forgot (are they livestock?) and the Customs official was a little annoyed.

Check guidelines of country, state and city
USA –
NY State –
The Gear
Puppy pads
Travel cases – Mool PetCarrier  We brought these not exactly roomy pet carriers, but never ended up needing them and threw them out at JFK. Dogs are fine on the leash.

Tips once you’ve hit the city:
Find a vet – I like Dr Cloudman at City Vets on 72nd Street on the Upper West Side. She graduated #1 in her class at Tufts. She was very useful in terms of giving them locally required vaccinations, matching US dog food to their UK variety, assisting with insurance, NYC Dog licenses ,possible dog walkers and boarders.

Central Park rules dictate that  dogs can only be off lead before 9am and after 9pm, but in my experience the rules are rarely enforced. Just walk your dogs on the quieter edges of the park. The Great Lawn is full of dogs and their adoring owners. Ditto the dirt path surrounding the reservoir.

Camp Canine is open 365 days a year. And so is my gym. No excuses. That’s New York – everything is accessible and easy as long as you have the cash to pay for it. The pugs are like movie stars here. Soon, they’ll be giving out autographs.

Greeting their 20th total stranger of the day …

I wish I could go native as quickly as Ant & J are. But that’s another blog, coming your way soon.

December, 2017

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Whoa, there’s a lot going on in the Big Apple over the next six months – Denzel Washington in An Iceman Cometh, Aaron Sorkin adapting To Kill a Mockingbird to the stage, Bette Midler tackling Hello Dolly.  By the end of the day, I was exhausted and I hadn’t left my chair. After a successful meditation, I calmed down and cherry picked. Women take centre stage.

On the small screen, Maggie Gyllenhaal plays savvy platinum blonde prostitute Candy  in The Deuce.  From the creators of The Wire, the fast-paced TV series is set in Manhattan’s seedy Times Square in the 70’s when the billion-dollar sex trade was on the rise, and Candy wants to get in on the action – without the help of the bejewelled, not always sweet as pie, pimps in her hood.

Battle of the Sexes starring Emma Stone as Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs is a sport I will be spectating.

Like The Deuce, this film resonates now; earlier this year tennis legend and sports commentator John McEnroe claimed Serena Williams would rank 700^th if she played on the men’s circuit. And let’s not forget Trump’s comments about women – there to be grabbed.

Leaping from screen to stage, get your Downton Abbey fix with the revival of J.B. Priestley’s 1937 Time and the Conways at the Roundabout Theatre. Actress Elizabeth McGovern can’t wait to be a bad mom.

 I’m just so blatantly loving being this woman. She’s not somebody who is very emotionally intelligent or developed or mature. She’s not really grown up herself, so she’s an absolutely terrible mother. And you see the damage that she wreaks on her children, all done in the most unconscious fashion, never meaning to tear them down, to break them apart”,

Mc Govern tells the NYT.

Warm, foul-mouthed feminist Amy Schumer is starring in a new comedy by Steve Martin and directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks. Also starring will be fellow American comedian Keegan-Michael Key (of Key & Peele fame, also played “Luther” – Obama’s anger translator at White House Correspondent’s Dinner)

Meteor Shower takes a coastal Californian dinner party and lets it go very, very wrong.

I can’t wait to devour culinary queen Alice Waters’ long-awaited  memoir Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counter-Culture Cook.

The celebrated chef moved from a repressive household in suburban Chatham, NJ to UC Berkeley in 1964, the height of the Free Speech Movement. The bohemian lifestyle she discovered there formed the basis for Chez Panisse’s fresh and in season culture, revolutionary then, commonplace now.

I was a freshman at UC Berkeley in 1980, the same year Waters’ introduced her baked in-house Californian pizza drizzled with local ingredients. My boyfriend used to take me to  Chez Panisse’s cafe for pizza on  Saturday nights. The restaurant on the ground floor with its set menu was far too expensive and adult for us. But the homemade thin crust pizza upstairs was novel, mouthwatering and definitely impressed me.

I hadn’t grown up going to restaurants, no one did.  As a teenager I went to diners for a hamburger or grilled cheese sandwich. The only pizza I’d ever tried was from a NY chain called Ray’s where we burned our tongues gorging on greasy slices off of a paper plate. Then all of a sudden I’m being taken to this nicely designed cafe (I remember a lot of wood interiors)  with a pizza oven (!)  fresh mozarella and organic vegetables. On the same Berkeley street as Chez Panisse was a gourmet cheese shop and a homemade ice cream spot called Vivoli’s where we’d go post-pizza. It was a dazzling street for the times.

September 2017

The post What’s Cooking in New York this Autumn appeared first on Elena Bowes.

Cohen is a top New York City editor with books he’s edited going on to win the Pulitzer, Booker and Whitbread/Costa prizes. More than twenty have been number one bestsellers.  He’s written several books, including Chasing the Sun, By the Sword and most recently, How to Write Like Tolstoy. He has also  written for the New York Times, the Guardian, the Observer, the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times Book Review, as well as having appeared on BBC Radio and television.

Cohen is a five times UK national saber champion,  fenced in the Olympics  in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984, appeared in To Die Another Day and, just for kicks, plays the cello.

I spoke to Cohen about how inadequate he makes me feel. Just kidding. We talked about his latest book and how his other life pursuits complement his writing. Here’s my interview with Cohen in 26, to inspire a greater love of words.

For those of you in New York, you can hear Cohen in the flesh this Tuesday, December 6th at literary cabaret, House of SpeakEasy on Lafayette Street where he will be joined by Man Booker prize winner Paul Beatty, memoirist and chef Gabrielle Hamilton, and novelist and National Book Award nominee Lydia Millet.  And for those in London Cohen will be giving a talk a week later on rhythm in prose writing at Kingston University. The talk will take place in JG2011 from 1.00-2.00pm on Tuesday, 13th December. All are welcome. No booking necessary.

Got to dash – my saber coach is waiting.

December, 2016

The post Want to Write Like Tolstoy? Author Richard Cohen Offers Up a Few Tips appeared first on Elena Bowes.