SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL: “Nobody but, Laure Van Rensburg” A Shots Magazine Feature

We enjoy discovering intriguing debut novels, so after penning our thoughts about ‘Nobody But Us’ by Laurie Van Rensburg, we had a few questions.

“Prescient and jarring, this unexpected and unheralded debut novel takes the current #MeToo and male-female dynamic and refracts them through a dark prism making the reader question what is real and what is artifice.

One has to atone for past sins, or does one? That is the question for the reader, as is the adage ‘does retribution amount to atonement’?

The reader must consider that when other eyes are viewing the proceedings of our lives; are our friends, our lovers, and our acquaintances really that friendly?

I have to leave a warning.

This novel is disturbing, nay, distressing – but well worth the journey”

Read the full Shots Magazine Review HERE

We tracked the author down vis her publishers PenguinRandomHouse to learn a little more about this startling debut novel for our readers -

Ali: Welcome Laure Van Rensburg to Shots Magazine, so firstly tell us a little about yourself.

Laure: Even though I have a very Dutch sounding surname I’m actually French. I moved to the UK after I finished university in Paris and never went back. I now live outside London with my rescue cat, Phoebe.

Nobody But Us is my debut novel however I have been writing on and off since I was a child. I stopped writing for a while after I moved to the UK because my French wasn’t strong enough anymore to write in French but my English wasn’t good enough to write in English, so I spent a few years in some kind of writer’s limbo.

I’m a big film buff so when I’m not writing you can usually find me at the cinema, or watching classics on Prime (I love old films from the 40s and 50s such as The Big Sleep, Notorious or All About Eve…)

Ali: And so, what were the early books that made an impression?

Laure: I still remember the first book I read as a kid that didn’t have pictures: Les Malheurs De Sophie (Sophie’s Misfortunes) by La Comtesse de Ségur. Another big turn in my reading childhood was The Hound of The Baskervilles, I read it under the cover after lights out because I just had to know what happened next, although my mother wasn’t thrilled to hear that I was falling asleep in class as a result. That book was my first taste of darker fiction.

The biggest impression happened when I was about 13 and borrowed this book from the local library called Les Hauts-De-Hurle-Vent, which the French title for Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. It was a revelation for me, it shows me how dark stories and relationships could be and how far people could go to hurt and destroy each other. It ignited my love for dark fiction and unlikeable characters. A lot of people call Wuthering Heights a tragic love story, but for me it’s all about toxic relationships and their devastating consequences.

Ali: And of contemporary work, what would consider the work that engages you currently?

Laure: I am a big fan of Chris Whitaker’s writing. He knows how to create a moving crime story, populate with unforgettable characters, and all wrapped up in a beautiful prose. We Begin At The End is one of the most devastating and heart breaking novels I’ve read in a long time. I’ve read all of his books, and the next one cannot come soon enough!

Another contemporary writer who I immensely enjoy is Catriona Ward. I am attracted to how she blends beautiful prose with horror stories which are still deeply human. I have her debut, Rawblood on my reading pile; I’m saving it for a special occasion as I’ve already read all her other books.

Finally, I can’t talk about contemporary work without mentioning Gillian Flynn. Her work has been a big influence on my writing in general and Nobody But Us in particular. I enjoy her portrayal of deeply flawed female characters and how she is not afraid to make them the heroine of their own stories.

Ali: And you path to publication with the Michael Joseph imprint at Penguin Random House?

Laure: I have a first novel in a drawer which I submitted to agents without success, although I did get lots of complimentary comments about my writing. The rejections stung, but after a short time wallowing, I picked myself off the floor and got on with my second novel which would become Nobody But Us. After eighteen months of writing and editing, I started submitting to agents. That was back in December 2019. By March 2019 I was lucky to have three offers of representation, including my dream agent who is now my agent, Juliet Mushens.

I did a couple of rounds of editing with Juliet, before Nobody But Us went out on submission to publishers (the title at that time was The Downfall). The whole process was an absolute rollercoaster and I am so grateful I had Juliet there to keep me sane and talk me through everything. We got quite a bit of interest within 24 hours from UK and foreign publishers, and ended up going to auction in the UK and the US. When I spoke with Clio Cornish, at Michael Joseph it felt right. Clio was so passionate about the story and the characters and I really like the vision she had for the book.

Ali: And were conscious of the backdrop of NOBODY BUT US, with the ‘#Metoo movement?

Laure: That was a very deliberate choice. The #MeToo movement has open the door for women to share and discuss their experiences. I was on Twitter that day and it was a humbling moment realising that we weren’t alone and we all shared the same lived experiences. I believe that those subjects can be explored in different ways and media, including novels, or films, such as Promising Young Woman. I wanted to talk about situations I believe most women have experienced in one shape or another and the anger of feeling powerless against those, but put it in a format I know how to write — that is psychological suspense.

Another big motivator to write this book was to explore how women’s rage and anger is often dismissed and brushed aside as being overly emotional. I wanted to create a story where I could legitimise those feelings, and pose the question — how far would you go if this happened to you or someone close? I’m not trying to provide an answer though, but a opportunity for discussions.

Ali: I know much is made of NOBODY BUT US being an audacious debut novel however I enjoyed your previous short fiction, currently available on your website > https://www.laurevanrensburg.com/short-stories-online so tell us a little about the context to your short fiction, and why you decided to write a novel?

Laure: Thank you! Funny enough I never really set out to write short stories in the first place. My mind was set on novel writing from the start. I have a first novel in a drawer that didn’t find an agent, and around the time I was editing it I had an idea for a story but not enough for a full novel so I ended up writing my first short story as an exercise to practise my editing skills as you have to make sure that every word counts. The ideas kept coming so I wrote more stories. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I thought why not try to get them published. Submitting short stories and flash fiction was a really good lesson as well about learning to handle rejections.

Unfortunately, between the full-time day job and the full-time novel writing I haven’t had the chance to write more short stories. I do miss it and I hope I can get back to it when things settle.

Ali: And would like to give our readers a little peek into what’s next in store for us?

Laure: I’m currently editing my next book which is another psychological suspense, again with feminist themes and undertones, set in South Carolina, this time during a blistering summer. The story centres around a religious cult who lives in a disused hotel/plantation house by the swamp. It opens with the aftermath of a fire which has claimed the lives of the leader and his wife. The story flicks back and forth, pre and post fire.

Ali: Thank you for your time.

Laure: Thank you for having me!

Shots Magazine would like to thank Jen Harlow of PenguinRandomHouse, London for organising this interview.