Novelist Emily Perkins: ‘We’re always going to be drawn to stories about the unhappy rich’ - Money Talks

Ockham book of the year winner Emily Perkins. Photo / Richard Robinson

Emily Perkins, whose latest novel Lioness deals with the lives of “the unhappy rich”, says she has always been drawn to the subject of money for fiction and drama.

Lioness tells the tale of a woman from working-class roots who marries into the complex life of a high-net-worth property developer.

Much of the drama takes place against a backdrop of commercial meltdown familiar to regular readers of the business pages.

“There’s an American writer I admire called Grace Paley,” Perkins says. “And one of the things that she said about writing was that every story should include the facts of blood and money.

“Blood represents our humanity, how we relate to each other, relationships, family, that kind of thing.

“And money is the practical thing that activates it all. It’s something that influences relationships quite a lot. I think the way that money can be a preoccupant, whether you’ve got, you know, not enough or you’ve got too much there’s always interesting stories around that.”

“I was particularly interested, in Lioness, writing about the world where people are incredibly comfortable. The narrator, Therese Thorne, came from really humble, circumstances in her young life. And then by marrying into money as a very young woman, she immediately became part of this other sort of rarefied world.

“I wanted to explore it in terms of who she was and her sense of identity, but also, I think it’s just a fascinating backdrop.

“We’re always going to be drawn to stories about the unhappy rich.”

Perkins talks about her own journey, from a career which began as a child actor and formal training at NZ Drama School Toi Whakaari to life as a struggling writer in London.

“I lived in London from my mid-twenties to my mid-thirties and that was often really financially challenging, but we were always around other people doing similar things. So it’s kind of become part of a world where that precarity is the norm, unfortunately.”

Being a fulltime fiction writer has been a balancing act for Perkins. She has worked in publishing and teaching although she is now focused on writing fulltime.

“I’ve just sort of cobbled it together, not with any great plan or much degree of kind of foresight or the future. It’s all been a bit accidental. I would say it’s worked out over the years, but there’ve definitely been times when I haven’t got my writing done or my own projects finished because it’s been more important to have a full-time job and to be secure in that way for my family.”

Perkins also shares her thoughts on funding for the arts and how she believes a Universal Basic Income could be transformative for those with a passion to create.

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Emily Perkins about the financial side of the publishing world, and which books about money she’d recommend.

Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn’t about personal finance and isn’t about economics - it’s just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it’s had on their lives and how it has shaped them.

The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large for the Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.

Money Talks is available on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.