We chat with debut author Lauren Ling Brown about Society of Lies, which is a pulse-pounding thriller filled with secret societies and mystery.
Hi, Lauren! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello there! Of course! Let’s see, I’m an author and film editor based in Los Angeles. I grew up in Northern California in a town called Los Altos and have always loved to read. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of going to the library with my mom and little sister, each of us having our own library cards. I would always carry a book with me wherever I went…even a party…especially a party. (I still do)
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I wrote short stories for fun as a kid, but took my first creative writing class in college, and that’s when I really fell in love with storytelling. After graduating, I went to USC School of Cinematic Arts to study screenwriting but wasn’t able to find an agent or a home for my screenplays, so I sort of put that dream of writing on hold for many years.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. I still find art museums magical because of this book.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Celeste Ng’s debut novel, Everything I Never Told You—it was the first time I read a book and thought, those characters’ cultural identities feel relatable. Growing up multiracial, Black and Asian, I didn’t read many protagonists that reminded me of myself or my friends, especially in the mystery/thriller genre. I remember reading that book and thinking, if I wrote a mystery, I would want it to feel like this!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. The heart and love and friendship in this book makes me tear up! Also anything by Jodi Picoult.
Your debut novel, Society of Lies, is out October 1st! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Yes! It is so exciting, and I can’t wait for it to be out in the world. If I could describe it in five words it would be: Dark academia, sisters with secrets
What can readers expect?
Society of Lies is a suspense about sisters, Maya and Naomi, born ten years apart, who get invited to join a secret society at Princeton.
The older sister, Maya, is now in her thirties with a husband and daughter, and she returns to Princeton for her younger sister, Naomi’s graduation. But when she arrives, Naomi doesn’t show up when she said she would, and Maya learns something awful has happened: Naomi is dead.
As Maya investigates, she realizes that Naomi’s death may have something to do with a secret in her own past and the society at the center of it all.
It’s a story about belonging, sisterhood, and privilege.
Where did the inspiration for Society of Lies come from?
The inspiration for Society of Lies started with a question: how far would you go to belong?
I remember when I was eighteen and first got off the train at Princeton, stepping onto the Gothic campus and being completely in awe. A few months earlier, I had been a shy, bookish teenager from California who didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere, and now that I was there, at this historic university, I just wanted to belong. That was the feeling I first wanted to convey as I started writing. That loneliness and need for friendship…
Then, I thought about this moral question:
If Maya was invited to join a secret society that promised her the life of her dreams, but it came at the expense of another person’s wellbeing, would she stay? That’s the struggle at the heart of the story. Does Maya stay in this society which allows her to take care of her little sister, Naomi, or does she leave?
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing Naomi and Zalikah’s characters. They brought me back to my college days with their dance shows and friendship. The dorm room parties. There are so many morally-gray characters in Society of Lies, that writing them was a breath of fresh air. I think of Naomi as the hero of the story.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
It was a long road, and I had all but given up when I wrote Society of Lies! The idea for this outsider character who got invited to join a secret society at Princeton was actually something I’d written as a screenplay about a decade earlier. I couldn’t find an agent or a home for my screenplays, so I began working in post-production, as an editor and assistant editor in TV, film, documentaries, and commercials.
Then, over the pandemic, I had surgeries on my hips and my knee, and spent many months where I was unable to walk without crutches. During this time, I was working from home, so I had more time where I could write. I wrote three novels over those years, and the third one became Society of Lies. It made me realize that some light could come out of a difficult time, especially with the support I received from family and friends who encouraged me and read many early drafts of the novel. I am so grateful for them!
What’s next for you?
Currently, I am working on my next novel, which is a suspense set in Malibu that has two perspectives and a past/present storyline as well. I’m having a lot of fun writing it!
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
There are too many good books to count! I tend to read contemporary fiction as well as thrillers. Here are a few that I’ve enjoyed this year:
The twisty psychological thriller: You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen, Laurie Elizabeth Flynn’s Napa thriller, Till Death Do Us Part, and the YA dark academia set at a boarding school: Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.
