NO SPOILERS in this conversation with debut author Alisson Wood discussing her memoir Being Lolita.
*** Alisson tells us about Being Lolita, her stunning coming-of-age memoir, and how it is very much a story about power. The book traces her relationship as a 17-year-old girl who is groomed and preyed upon by a high school english teacher in her school and how she ultimately got out, finding her voice in the process. (02:26)
*** Being Lolita is our first memoir in Complicated Conversations and Alisson explains why she was so certain this story had to be written as a memoir and how she knew she wanted to write it from the moment the relationship with her teacher ended. (03:52)
*** Women who write memoirs about personal issues and trauma are often deemed “brave” and Alisson shares how she feels about that complicated and often coded label. (9:20)
*** We talk about Lolita, Nabokov’s classic, and how the Lolita myth has been perpetuated in society for years. Alisson shares when she learned that this was a story about rape and obsession, not a love story propelled by a young seductress. (17:51)
*** We discuss one of our favorite themes...fate vs free will, the choices we make, the patterns we follow, and whether we would want to avoid certain life lessons, even if we could. (24:45)
*** Alisson shares her thoughtful views on the complex portrayals of victims that are emerging in popular fiction and non-fiction, but how no matter what strides have been made, we always need more perspectives and points of view. (37:15)
*** We talk about being pretty, and how complicated that is for young girls and women. Alisson declares being pretty a “bomb” and our minds were blown. (45:58)
*** As always, we talk astrology...Alisson is a Capricorn with a Leo rising and a Taurus moon. We loved hearing that her goal for the coming year is to get more in touch with her “witchy side”! (55:12)
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