Lauren Davis joins SI Book Club to Discuss The Last Thing He Told Me

What was your inspiration for this book? 

I’ve always been fascinated by true crime, particularly cases that involve fraud and embezzlement. In the early 2000s, I was intrigued by the financial scandal at Enron. I remember watching Linda Lay [wife of Enron’s CEO, Kenneth Lay] give an interview proclaiming that her husband did nothing wrong. I started to imagine, then, the story of a woman who felt certain of her husband’s innocence despite mounting evidence to the contrary. I didn’t put pen to paper for The Last Thing He Told Me, though, until almost a decade later when I came to the question I wanted to explore in writing this novel. I wanted to think about what it is to know the people closest to us. To know the people we love the most. 

Which character was the easiest and most challenging to write? 

Hannah was the easiest because I was experiencing everything through her journey. Owen was the hardest because he made decisions I don't agree with. 

Protect her is the phrase we hear throughout the book, how/why did you pick this? 

I like the idea that Owen wanted to signal to Hannah that the most important thing was to protect Bailey - but he wanted her to do that however she decided to do it -- which is why he didn't go into greater detail.

The relationship between Hannah and her stepdaughter is the heart of this book. Was it inspired by a real mother/daughter dynamic? 

It was more an ode to motherhood in general. After I gave birth to my son in 2016 I realized Hannah’s story, in the most primal sense, was the story of becoming a mother. Hannah’s journey to motherhood, like that of so many women, takes an unconventional path. I wanted to honor all the unconventional paths and lean into the idea that no version of motherhood is more honorable, more important, more “natural.” We often become mothers to people we don’t birth, we find our families in people we may not have planned for, we define home and love in ways that may be more generous and fulfilling than our younger selves could have imagined. There is so much beauty in all the ways that love arrives into our lives—and I was drawn to spotlighting a version that is surprising both in its formation and where it ultimately leads our characters. 

How do you develop your characters? Are they ever based on people you know or have met?

I always develop my characters as I go. I start with knowing some important aspects of their personalities and develop them as I get to know them better.  This leads to a lot of rewriting.

Was the ending planned or did it evolve as you wrote?  

The ending definitely changed during the different iterations of this novel. I hoped for a different ending for Owen and Hannah -- but this felt like where their story needed to go. On the plus side, I am working on a sequel so this ending is more like an intermission. 

One of my favorite parts is this story was the hit about the tiger and the child in who visited the zoo. The line sometimes you find your way to the place that wants you most. What was your inspiration for this? 

    I made it up! I just liked the idea of something kismet happening because our lives often feel that way, especially in moments of evolution. 

Would you write a sequel to this book? Where would you pick up with Bailey, Hannah and Owen? Can you tell us anymore about what would happen next?

  

There will be a sequel and it will pick up not long after the story ends now when Hannah and Owen see each other again.

 

Can you tell us about if your working on anything next? If so what’s it about and when can we expect it?

I am finishing work on another domestic thriller which focuses on  a patriarch and his complicated family.

You’ll Always have Shelf Indulgence support and we can’t wait for the next one. 

Thank you!! Appreciate you choosing to read The Last Thing He Told Me

wishing you the best

Laura