The Lady or the Lion is a retelling of “The Lady or the Tiger?” against a Pakistan-inspired world of forbidden love and court intrigues.
We chat with author Aamna Qureshi about her debut novel, as well as writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Aamna! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi everyone! I’m a Pakistani-American Muslim writer based in New York. I grew up in a very loud household, surrounded by English (for school), Urdu (for conversation), and Punjabi (for emotion). When I’m not writing, I love travelling to new places where I can explore different cultures or to Pakistan where I can revitalize my roots. I also love baking complicated desserts, drinking fancy teas and coffees, watching sappy rom-coms, and going for walks about the estate (my backyard).
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I recall reading was Room on the Broom, which I read in preschool. In kindergarten, I read all of the Junie B. Jones books, and as I grew older, I read anything I could lay my hands on. But I didn’t think about becoming an author until I was about thirteen, and that was only after I saw Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me novel. It wasn’t so much the content or the story but the author who inspired me. It was the first time I saw a hijabi author writing in the young adult and fantasy spheres, and I thought to myself, if she can do it, so can I!
When did you first discover your love for writing?
When I was 8 years old! I wrote a little story, printed it out, drew the cover, and passed the pamphlet around to all of my family members. But before I fell in love with writing stories, I fell in love with the act of physically writing. I still remember the first time I wrote my name. I was five years old, with a piece of paper and a pink crayon, standing on my tiptoes by my father’s desk as he worked. With great difficulty, I etched out the letters of my name, and even now, I still remember the incredible fascination and intense satisfaction I felt seeing what I had created. There is so much power in writing, in creating. Looking at my hand in wonder, I realized then that life was just beginning.
Your debut novel, The Lady or the Lion, is out July 20th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
spoiled princess meets forbidden romance
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect lots of angst, delicious food, fairy tale vibes, a lush setting, a dramatic princess, a love interest with hidden depths, lots and lots of emotions, and hopefully some laughs and some tears along the way.
Where did the inspiration for The Lady or the Lion come from?
I was inspired by the short story “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank R. Stockton, which I read in my high school AP Language class. But the heart of the story came from my cultural heritage and from my obsession with love stories.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
I found difficulty with writing the political storylines. However, writing the romance was easy for me, so to combat the trouble I was having with the politics, I tried to make those two storylines interact as much as possible. I used the politics to set up good romantic scenes, then had the romantic scenes amplify the more political scenes. Interconnecting them really helped me tackle the initial difficulty.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing the side character of Gulalai. Because she is a bit removed from all the drama, she isn’t so tense, and as such, she was really fun to write. I also loved writing the protagonist, Durkhanai, as spoiled and petulant because she’s such a typical dramatic desi girl. I feel like a lot of times desi girls are shown as demure and shy, which is just not accurate at all. So many of my desi friends are loud and proud and vivacious and vibrant, and I absolutely adore that, so I infused those qualities into Durkhanai and the other female characters.
What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
Long and brutal! I amassed hundreds of rejections (not an exaggeration) over many years and many projects, and it was an extremely disheartening and distressful process. But I always believed in myself and my work, and now I’m living the dream! So it was all worth it.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
The best advice is that writing is a marathon, not a sprint. The worst advice is that you have to write every day. You definitely do not.
What’s next for you?
The sequel to The Lady or the Lion is out summer 2022 also from CamCat Books, and my first YA contemporary novel, When a Brown Girl Flees, is out spring 2023 with Tu Books!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I adore Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore; I read it three times in one month. I also recently read and loved Sally Rooney’s Conversations With Friends and Normal People. And I will always recommend anything by Melina Marchetta.
You can find Aamna on Instagram and Twitter, as well as at her website.
