Exclusive interview with author Alexandra Monir and a review of her novel based on the classic Rebecca
Rating: Three Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“Suspicion came from my love of classic Gothic mystery novels, particularly Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier,” says author Alexandra Monir. “I loved that book so much growing up, that when it came time for me to start brainstorming a third novel, I kept coming back to my love of Rebecca and how much fun it would be to update the premise for a younger, 21st century audience. But then I started pulling in different story elements, like the supernatural, and also exploring themes like the intense closeness between childhood friends and what happens to that closeness when people grow up, or when tragedy strikes. So ultimately the book isn’t as much a retelling of Rebecca as it is a new story inspired by it.”
An enchanting read, this Young Adult novel is perfect for anyone who appreciates classic thrillers. There are secrets, mystery, magic and romance. Suspicion is set at Rockford Manor, a British country estate that has secrets. After Imogen’s parents die in a fire there, she must go live with her guardians in America. She leaves behind her grandfather and cousin. Her guardians tell her to forget her old life, including Sebastian Stanhope, the neighbor boy she liked.
Imogen struggles with her move to New York, where she doesn’t feel she belongs. She tries to forget. Now seventeen, Imogen has not forgotten her father’s dying words to her: look to the maze. But the garden and its maze burned in the fire. Imogen, as the heir, must return to England. At the estate she can sense there is something not right. Why did her parents and cousin die? Is her life in danger too? Who can she trust?
Monir says she did lots of research while writing the book. “The biggest thing I did was take a trip to England while writing the first draft of the book. I soaked in the culture, learned a ton about British life and history, and I visited the places featured in the story, particularly Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.” Monir based the fictional Rockford Manor on that location, best known as the ancestral home of the Churchill family.
Suspicion is Monir’s third book. Her debut novel was the time-travel YA romance Timeless in 2011, followed by its sequel Timekeeper in 2013. She is writing her fourth novel for Delacorte, the YA mystery The Girl in the Picture.
Krista Vitola at Delacorte Press/Random House is Monir’s editor. “My agent sent a synopsis of my first book idea, Timeless, to Delacorte, which they liked and gave me some revision notes on,” says Monir. “After I turned in a revised proposal, they bought Timeless in a two-book deal. It was the definition of a life-changing moment.”
Monir, a singer, has recorded a song from the book to go with the book’s release. “I heard an old song while writing Suspicion that spoke to me and the story so much,” says Monir. “I just had to feature it in the book. The song is Autumn Leaves, the English translation of a French classic. I ended up writing a really special scene in Chapter 12 where the song plays a pivotal role. When I shared this with my mom, she told me something amazing, that this is the same song my grandmother Monir Vakili, Iran’s foremost opera singer and my namesake, used to sing all the time.”
Alexandra Monir is based in Los Angeles. She was born in Marin County, north of San Francisco.
Monir will signing books at Books Inc. in Laurel Village, San Francisco, on February 26th at 7pm. In April and May she has appearances in Paris, France, in California in Irvine and Pasadena, and in Princeton, New Jersey.
Suspicion by Alexandra Monir. Hardcover, 304 pages, Publisher: Delacorte Press (December 9, 2014), Language: English ISBN: 9780385743891 Age Range: 12 and up $17.99
