Q&A with Rebecca Hardy, Author of The Summer We Lied

Could you please introduce your debut novel, and your main characters Jonathan, Alex and Rachel?

The Summer We Lied is a multi-voice, dual timeline mystery about three teenage friends — Alex, Jonathan and Rachel — who overhear a brutal double murder whilst bunking off school on the hottest day of 1989. Alex is eventually the one to take the stand in court, sending a man she believes to be the killer to prison. Eighteen years later, the friends now estranged, another attack brings new evidence to light that proves he was innocent and it becomes clear someone else knows the secrets they kept. As their lives and lies start to crumble around them, they are forced to confront their own culpability, the secrets they hid from each other, and the traumas that rest at the heart of their silence.

The novel explores themes of truth, guilt and the long-lasting impact of secrets. What drew you to writing a novel in this genre space, and what books/authors of this genre inspired you?

I’ve always been fascinated by moral ambiguity, by the secrets each of us hold and by the lies we are prepared to tell. For me, these are always the most intriguing stories to read and watch. The novel Commonwealth by Ann Patchett was a huge inspiration for the teenage timeline. Patchett’s setting and characters, particularly the children, are so sharply drawn that their relationships and conflicts feel achingly real. In her novel, the choices the children made on one particular day had catastrophic effects that rippled through the rest of their lives, and that idea stayed with me for a long time. I wanted to write a book which also, in some small way, explored the psychology of how our childhood experiences, all those ill-advised adolescent choices and actions, shape the adults we later become.

You have a background as a law graduate and English teacher. Would you say that your experiences influenced the way that you approached writing this psychological thriller?

I would say so, yes. My love of crime and legal thrillers — particularly John Grisham’s books — influenced my decision to study law at university but I realised very quickly I wasn’t cut out for an office job. Retraining as an English teacher allowed me to indulge my creative side, as well as my love of literature, but it also kept me close to the teenage experience. It came as no surprise that when the inspiration for The Summer We Lied arrived, it was a teenage character who first announced themselves. I knew whatever my adult characters were going to do later in the story would be shaped by their earliest mistakes, just as we all inevitably are.

The Summer We Lied is your debut novel, what has surprised you most about the journey from writing the manuscript to seeing it published?

Everything! I have to admit, I knew almost nothing about the path to publication, prior to completing my manuscript, and the amount of people, time and work involved remains a constant source of amazement. Perhaps the biggest surprise was how many iterations my manuscript would go through before it became The Summer We Lied. With every draft the characters evolved, the plot twisted, and the motivations switched. I found it challenging, but also hugely satisfying, to extract the final version of the story and bring my three characters to life. I couldn’t have done it without the input of my agent, Juliet Mushens, and my editor, Alison Hennessey.

What three songs would you include on your The Summer We Lied playlist?

Oh my goodness, what a great question! I’m going to pick songs that have something to do with the teenage timeline:

Trust — Prince (Batman album from 1989, which features in the novel)

Toy Soldiers — Martika (in an earlier draft, they are all listening to this in Alex’s garden when certain decisions are made. Also love this song so much!)

Out of the Woods — Taylor Swift (from the Album 1989)

Could you describe The Summer We Lied in three words / one sentence please?

Taut, dark and twisty.