We chat with author Regina Porter about The Rich People Have Gone Away, which is a kaleidoscopic novel of betrayal, race and human connection that follows a diverse group of New Yorkers are brought together by the search for a missing woman.
Hi, Regina! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’ve lived most of my life in New York, where I will likely retire someday. But I was born in the south. Savannah, Georgia. And so, I am also southern. That means there’s a little bit of southern gothic humor in my blood. I don’t know how people get through this crazy life of ours—its sudden whims of good and bad fortune—without a sense of humor, playfulness, hope. I love music and often dance or listen to music when I write. And something I don’t talk about much is the fact that I sang and wrote songs when I was quite young. My mother and father would have people over and to get their attention, I would grab a cane and hat and sing Hallelujah, Come on Get Happy or Somewhere Over the Rainbow like Judy Garland. My father loved old films and so I grew up with a walking vocabulary of what I sometimes thought of as useless knowledge about westerns and golden era movie stars and films. That knowledge along with singing—the poetry I wrote was awful, so we will skip that—informs my writing to this day. There are some friends and family and teachers who were surprised I didn’t pursue a career as a professional singer, but I’d get knots in my stomach before singing solos or standing up on a stage in front of an audience of strangers I didn’t know. I prefer the freedom and anonymity of the blank page.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Probably, the first time my mother took me to the library. I am, in fact, a nerd who has always loved school and libraries and spending time in bookstores. It is from my mother, who wrote poetry, that I get my knack for writing. My father, the language of film and visual mediums and an ear for music and dialogue.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I think it was a red ABC book.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon comes to mind first. But there were others.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Right now? James by Percival Everett
Your latest novel, The Rich People Have Gone Away, is out August 6th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A psychological mystery with soul.
What can readers expect?
For the novel to unfold like a puzzle and to take them places they might not expect to go!
Where did the inspiration for The Rich People Have Gone Away come from?
Well, I am a huge fan of Patricia Highsmith and especially THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. She was so comfortable writing about Tom Ripley, getting under his skin, inhabiting a male body. In the Rich People Have Gone Away, Theo Harper, who came to me suddenly and in a way I couldn’t ignore, got under my skin in similar ways. I woke up one morning and knew he was the character who would drop me into this novel because of his contradictions.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I’ve already mentioned Theo. Writers like to say their characters aren’t autobiographical. That’s fiction and truth. The characters we create are often fragments of ourselves. The second we put pen on paper, a transfiguration happens. To that degree, I enjoyed writing all of the characters. Ruby, Darla, Afred, Katsumi, Maureen, Detective Tender, Simon, Felix, The Teenager in the Cardi B T-shirt, his parents, and so on. And there are one or two who thoroughly shocked me. To reveal why, would be to reveal too much!…
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Writing sex scenes and capturing the distinction between sex and genuine intimacy. Writing how quickly things go to “hell in a handbasket” too.
What’s next for you?
I hope to write a horror novel similar to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I was in Switzerland last summer and, to escape the heat, one afternoon I visited Castle Chillon where Byron was inspired to write one of his famous poems. I remembered that Byron, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her then lover Percy Shelley had holed up one summer in Geneva. She wrote Frankenstein in Geneva. At Castle Chillon, I touched Byron’s autograph on one of the pillars and in the resulting months, went on a horror story binge upon returning home, thinking of Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein while it rained outside. It rained a great deal in September 2023 while I was reading those horror stories and watching old horror films. We’ll see what, if anything, comes of 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 so many great books out there, that’s not an easy question. As mentioned, James is a masterpiece. I take great comfort in that book because Percival Everett has been writing for decades on his own terms. James feels like it could only exist now and at this point in his life. And because he is also a southerner by birth, from Georgia, no less, there are historical aspects of the novel that speak to me on so many levels.
I can’t wait to get my hands on Colored Television by Danzy Senna. She’s a fabulous writer.
All Fours by Miranda July. Small Rain by Garth Greenwell is coming out in September along with Before the Apple Ripens by Nigerian writer, Afabwaje Kurian, just to name a few!
