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YA Book Prize shortlist: Louise Finch discusses The Eternal Return of Clara Hart
Caroline CarpenterCaroline is deputy features editor at The Bookseller and chair of the YA Book Prize, as well as being a co-host of children's book radio ...more
Louise Finch answers our questions about her debut novel The Eternal Return of Clara Hart (Little Island), a time-loop book about toxic masculinity, which has been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2023.
Caroline is deputy features editor at The Bookseller and chair of the YA Book Prize, as well as being a co-host of children's book radio ...more
How would you describe your book to someone who hasn’t read it?
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart is a dark, contemporary time-loop novel about Spence, an 18-year-old boy who finds himself forced to repeatedly relive one tragic Friday that always ends with his classmate, Clara Hart, running from a house party and dying in an accident.
As Spence wakes up to the same day over again, he realises he has a chance to save Clara. But as he repeatedly tries and fails to stop the events of the day, he begins to realise he’s perhaps not the hero of the story.
To break the spell, he has to re-evaluate everything he previously took for granted and find the courage to call out his own and others’ complicity in events that impact the life and death of Clara.
It’s a book about toxic masculinity, gendered violence and grief, but it’s also quite a hopeful book about learning from mistakes, opening up and moving forward.
What inspired the story?
It’s a very personal book in a lot of ways, drawing on experiences that have shaped my life and made me passionate about tackling sexism and victim blaming, as well as my own experience of grief.
It also grew out of another novel I was writing just before this one, which was also a time-loop story. Looking back, I think I was struggling to connect to that one and find a reason to keep writing, because it wasn’t working. Luckily, I arrived at the idea of using that same structure to consider a topic I care about, and the concept for The Eternal Return of Clara Hart was born.
Which character in the book is your favourite, and why?
Clara is probably my favourite character, because I love that she is a little bit spiky and not afraid to speak her mind, but equally empathic and understanding.
For a while when I was drafting this book, I played around with Clara having her own point of view too, even though I eventually cut those sections, I feel like I know so much about Clara and what’s going on in her life beyond what you see on the page.
What does being on this year’s YA Book Prize shortlist mean to you?
It’s an incredible honour to be on this shortlist alongside such an amazing selection of titles and authors that really celebrate the huge variety of books that fall under the "YA" banner. I’ve always followed this prize closely as an aspiring author and enjoyed reading the shortlist, but never dreamed I’d be on it myself one day!
What’s the best thing about writing for young adults?
I love writing young adult characters, because it’s such a fascinating time of life where you have a lot more freedom and a lot of choices opening up ahead of you – it’s an exciting, anxious time where you’re learning a lot and shaping your future, so writing characters grappling with those big questions is always interesting.
Young adults are a great audience to write for too. At events they always ask insightful and challenging questions, which reflect how deeply young people think about the media they engage with.
What was your favourite book as a teenager?
I’ve always been a huge bookworm and there are so many books that I adore, but Junk by Melvin Burgess always stays with me. I think it was probably the first young adult book I ever read, so it was a big shift from what I’d been reading before and felt so honest and eye-opening.
What’s your top writing tip?
Read! Read as much as you can and as widely as you can.
There are so many courses where you can learn to write, but you can learn so much by reading books about the craft of writing, then going away with that knowledge and reading the sort of fiction you’d like to write. Once you understand what you’re looking for, it’s interesting to try and understand how the authors you enjoy reading have constructed their stories.
What do you need around you when you’re writing?
I don’t have a dedicated desk space, so I’m often writing curled up on the sofa. My only writing essentials are a laptop, notebook, cup of coffee and my two small dogs, Yuffie and Newt.
What songs would be on a playlist for your book?
I guess it would have to include "One More Cup of Coffee" (the White Stripes version), "Given to Fly", "Mardy Bum" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (the Tori Amos cover). And then maybe "Superfreak" by Rick James in honour of Spence’s mum’s favourite movie.
Which book, film or TV show would you recommend to someone who enjoyed your book?
"Russian Doll" is a great time-loop series that came out shortly after I finished writing The Eternal Return of Clara Hart, so I’d definitely recommend that for another look at the idea of a repeating day. It also stars Natasha Lyonne who would be very high up on my fantasy dinner guest list.
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