Katherine Ashenburg's novel Her Turn looks at lies, forgiveness and starting over
Katherine Ashenburg is a writer and journalist who has worked for the Globe and Mail and the CBC. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Going to Town, The Mourner's Dance, The Dirt on Clean and the novel Sofie & Cecilia. The Toronto-based Ashenburg says she's had a different career every working decade, and there have been five working decades to date.
Her latest novel, Her Turn, is about a woman named Liz, who works as a newspaper columnist in D.C., just before the 2016 presidential election. Liz edits a column called "My Turn," where readers across the country submit essays. When the woman who broke up Liz's marriage submits an essay (she does not know Liz edits the column), it sends Liz spiralling. Liz must then face the mess she's made of things, while facing her past at the same time.
Ashenburg spoke with Shelagh Rogers about writing Her Turn.
A small section of hell
"I must confess that I had Liz's exact job about 20 years ago at the Globe and Mail in a page that was called the Facts and Arguments page. What got me realizing that set up could be very useful was remembering that people would send in stories about love, hate, guilt, fear and funny things as well.
"Nobody knew or cared, except people at the paper and my friends, who was editing that page. Every once in a while, I would get a submission from someone I knew but didn't know they were submitting to me. They were very intimate pieces, things I didn't know about them.
"I was on a train from Liverpool to Cotswolds and I'd been looking for a way to write a book about a woman who is really quite emotionally stalled by a divorce. In the case of Liz, who looks good on the surface but is stalled, I just couldn't find the situation. And for some reason on this train ride, I began thinking about my old job at the Globe and Mail and editing all these very personal essays.
"I was on a train from Liverpool to Cotswolds and I'd been looking for a way to write a book about a woman who is really quite emotionally stalled by a divorce.
"I thought about a scenario where the woman who was having an affair with Liz's husband when they separated doesn't know that she's writing to 'Wife One' — and wife one keeps that a secret. A small section of hell breaks loose at that point."
The heart of the matter
"I've always been fascinated by forgiveness. I don't quite know what it is. I don't know how you do it. And I gave all those queries to Liz, who also has a very personal stake in it. She's totally embarrassed and self-conscious when she sees her ex-husband and his new partner. Does that mean she hasn't forgiven, or is that a whole separate thing? So the really important and good thing that happens to Liz is that she finally takes forgiveness on. And interestingly, it's kind of a psychological twist.
I've always been fascinated by forgiveness. I don't quite know what it is. I don't know how you do it.
"The fact that she's been having an affair with her married publisher has allowed her not to think about forgiveness. Liz thinks if she's guilty, if she's rowing in the same morally leaky boat that [her ex and his partner] are rowing, then she doesn't have to worry about forgiveness.
"She believes she's not the innocent who was wronged because she's just as guilty as they are."
Katherine Ashenburg's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
