Julia Hoban talks about WILLOW and SCARRED

If you’re a regular reader of Blue Archipelago Reviews then you will know that I’m a big fan of WILLOW by Julia Hoban; I rated it five stars when I read it back in early 2009. Julia was kind enough to stop by and answer some interview questions then too.

This year WILLOW is being released on paperback on February 23 and is also coming to the UK in March. Interestingly UK readers will see this fabulous novel listed under a different name: SCARRED.

I was intrigued by the change of name so I thought who better to ask for the reason than Julia herself – and she agreed to answer some more questions for us too.

An Interview with Julia Hoban

CS – Hi Julia – thanks so much for taking time out to answer some questions about this wonderful book for my readers. Let’s start with an easy question: what inspired you to write WILLOW?

JH – I wanted to write a book for all of us with self destructive urges, a book that would take one person from a place of self harm to a place of healing, and in doing so possibly make people question their own damaging behaviors.

I chose to make WILLOW a cutter because it’s a very dramatic and obvious form of self injury, but it could just as easily have been a book about overeating or doing drugs, or even something as innocent as watching too much television.

CS – WILLOW is already a really popular book and it’s not even reached the paperback shelf yet. Can you describe some of the reactions that you’ve encountered about WILLOW? What was the most surprising?

JH – I’ve had so many! Truly. I never expected to receive so many heartfelt responses, and from so many different places!

The other day I heard from two readers, one in Peru, the other in Hong Kong. This was amazing to me, as I assumed that no one beyond the corner grocery had even heard of me! In any case, when my husband came home, I rushed to the door and asked him if he thought that maybe I was an eensy bit famous now? He just looked at me and asked what was for dinner.

The fact is though, I have been tremendously moved by the reaction to WILLOW. One type of response that has surprised as well as moved me is that I’ve heard from a fair number of young gay men and women. Some of them have told me that the “emotional honesty” in WILLOW made them decide to come out. There is a fair amount of LGBT literature out there, and I never expected WILLOW to impact people in that way, especially because the story doesn’t touch on any LGBT themes. I can say that I have been tremendously moved and honored by this reaction.

CS – Julia, in your opinion, what are some of the most important themes in WILLOW?

JH – Well really, I think WILLOW is first and foremost a book about relationships.

There are four major relationships in the book. The first is the one that WILLOW has with her parents, although they are no longer with her. There’s a famous play by Robert Anderson called “I Never Sang For My Father” and the first line is quite profound. It says “Death ends a life, but it doesn’t end a relationship.” This is something that all of us will learn at some point, and something that Willow has to learn throughout the course of the book. Unfortunately she has to learn this much earlier than most people.

The second relationship is with her brother, which has been horribly fractured since their parents died. In many ways, the journey that Willow goes on throughout the book is one that re-connects her with her brother. How does she embark on this journey? With Guy. It is her relationship with Guy that leads her back to her brother. Now, how does she connect with Guy? She connects with him through her love of books, and it is the love of books that is the fourth relationship in the book, and the one that ties everything else together. It is through talking about a book that she first connects with Guy. When she tries to talk to her brother about the same book (TRISTES TROPIQUES) the conversation is utterly untenable and literally sends her running off to join Guy and his friends. Willow tries to buy her brother a book, but fails utterly in this task, and buys one for Guy instead. And how do the barriers finally come down between her and her brother? When he discovers the copy of TRISTES TROPIQUES that she is planning on giving Guy.

CS – Books play a large role in the story—what are some books that you read as a child that you hold close to your heart?

JH – That’s an easy one to answer! The Railway Children, The Railway Children, The Railway Children! Also, the Narnia books, and the entire Sherlock Holmes canon.

CS – lol, those are some great childhood classics! Back to the book for a moment – how did you research cutting for the novel?

JH – I did a fair amount of reading about the “technical aspects” of the disorder. Steven Levenkron’s book Cutting was very helpful. One thing that may surprise people is the amount of care many cutters take with their wounds. It may seem counter intuitive, why cut yourself and then clean and bandage the cuts? But that’s a real window into the psyche of a self injurer: as Willow says cutting is not a dress rehearsal for suicide. It is most often a way of stuffing down feelings that would otherwise be too overpowering. –- I also read many case studies, some rather harrowing memoirs, and these were invaluable. But as for getting to the depth of Willow’s need – I looked to the challenges I’ve faced in my own life. I have never been a cutter, but I have felt that kind of despair, that kind of desperation, that absolute inability to process pain in the correct way.

CS – Who is your favorite character in the book?

JH – Now, I’m guessing that you’re expecting me to say Guy, and I do love him…. But I have a real soft spot for Willow as well. True, she’s high maintenance, but she’s also capable of great love and compassion, even in the depths of her pain. Look at the way she stands up for Vicki in the physics lab, and look at the way she responds to her brother’s tears.

CS – Have there been any misconceptions about the book that you’d like to clear up?

JH – Well, yes, thank you for giving me the opportunity! I know that WILLOW sounds a little off putting to some people. If you look at the bare bones of the plot —the story of a young woman, who loses her parents in a car accident, and is so overcome with guilt, so isolated and alone, that she feels she has no other way to deal with her pain than by cutting herself, it sounds pretty grim. Believe me, I know! But while the above may be the basic outline of the book, the themes that WILLOW explores are really not so dire. WILLOW is really about hope, about redemption, and above all, about the power of love to heal. Now WILLOW is not the right book for everyone, no question, but I’d like to assure your readers who are a little … let’s say, frightened by the sound of it, that many, many people have told me that they found it to be a very uplifting book, a very hopeful book, and above all a very romantic book.

CS – Why do you think that it is so important for teens to read?

JH – There are an infinite number of reasons, I’ll just give two here. One, reading can expand your horizons in ways you never dreamed, and introduce you to new worlds. Two, I can tell you from personal experience that I count many books as good and trusted friends, that there are books that have helped me through the deepest despair and through intense loneliness. That is what books can do to you and for you. Now WILLOW may not be that book for everybody, but if someone is able to learn from it, to question why they might treat themselves as less than they should, then this author will have truly done her job.

CS – I’m intrigued to know; why was the title changed to SCARRED for the UK release?

JH – Well, the UK publishers thought that SCARRED had more story value. That although WILLOW was a very pretty sounding title, it didn’t really give an idea as to what the book was about, whereas with SCARRED, you know something’s up right away!

I suppose they have a point, though in my heart it will always be called WILLOW. I’m glad I know about the change of name though as the new UK cover is quite eye-catching and I might have bought it thinking it was another novel by you

Order your copy of SCARRED by Julia Hoban.

Order your paperback copy of WILLOW by Julia Hoban

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