A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing unflinchingly explores the confusion of having expectations upturned, and the awkwardness and pain of being human in our increasingly dislocated world – and how, in spite of all this, we still try to become the person we want to be. It is a dazzling, original and astounding debut from a young writer with a fierce, intelligent and fearless new voice.
We chat to debut author Jessie Tu about her recently released novel, A Lonely Girl Is A Dangerous Thing!
Hi Jessie, congratulations on your debut novel! Can you describe in 1 sentence how this achievement makes you feel?
Excited about conversations that will stir from the stories of this novel.
What would you say were the top 2 things that inspired you to write Jena’s story?
Confusion and anger. Confused about my actions in the past, around men. And angry at myself too. Because I didn’t know why I did what I did.
There were a few instances from the novel that really hit home when you discussed the lack of female representation in the arts industry. Do you think things are changing for women when it comes to the cultural landscape in Australia, particularly in the arts industry?
There’s no lack of female writers and authors in Australia. There’s a lack of POC women, disabled women, transgender people, Indigenous women.
As a former classical player (cello, viola), I could really understand the ‘rush’ or great feeling of losing yourself into classical music when I read the novel. Describing a musical experience can be difficult, did you find it hard to incorporate violin playing in your writing?
It was not hard. The challenging thing was not being over-sentimental. Writing classical music can get that way!
Jena and her relationship with sex is one of the main themes of A Lonely Girl Is A Dangerous Thing, a discussion topic I could probably talk about for hours. With the online space opening even more for the sex industry (i.e. sites like OnlyFans etc.), do you think more people are starting to open their minds up about sex and its relationship to shame?
I’m not sure. More people might be doing it, but I wonder whether they’re doing it in a way that respected everyone’s different values and perspectives, and approaching it all with kindness and no judgement.
As an Australian-Asian woman, it’s been so great to now be able to read more books with Asian representation (especially as the protagonist) like your debut. Other than your own book, what’s a novel by an Asian author that you’d highly recommend?
Tiffany Tsao!
On a lighter note, What’s your favourite classical piece?
Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major – Second Movement. It will change you.
Last but not least, what can we expect from you next? Will we be able to read more of Jena’s story?
I’m working on my second novel! It’s also about classical violinists. I don’t’ know why I have an obsession with using them in my narratives.
