The future of dystopia and exploring the mother-daughter bond with Sara Foster

Sara Foster was born and raised in England but now lives in Perth with her husband and young daughters. She has previously worked as an editor in-house at HarperCollins UK and then freelance and has worked on many popular titles. She loves dystopian fiction so much that she’s studying the genre for a PhD at Curtin University. So it will come as no surprise that today we are discussing her somewhat dystopian book, and her latest novel, The Hush.

Our interview begins at 21 minutes. 

Mini book club: Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney

A smart and addictive romantic YA novel that explores race, relationships and what it means to own your truth. 

In this interview, we chat about:

• How Sara developed the idea for The Hush and why the mother-daughter relationship was central to the narrative
• Why Sara chose to write something so close to our current reality, with a story set less than 10 years in the future, and why she set it in England
• The freaky ways the books has mirrored real events
• Exploring the nuances of the mother-daughter relationship within The Hush
• Sara’s writing career and working on other books alongside The Hush
• Blending genres and why Sara is so fascinated with dystopia - how does the genre evolve from here?
• Why Sara wanted to pursue a PhD and how the novel developed out of that

Books and other things mentioned:

• 100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze by Clayton Zane Comber
• The Hate U Give (film)
• The Hunger Games
• Divergent
• Only Ever Yours
• Help (film)
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

Follow Sara @sarafosterauthor. The Hush is available now.

Follow us on Instagram @betterwordspod

Please note that Caitlin's job at HarperCollins Publishers did not affect our decision to invite Sara to be a guest, we're delighted to have her and hope you enjoy this episode. Michelle also read a PR copy.