We were thrilled to talk to Jane as part of our recent online Novels That Shaped Our World events. The reading experiences and recommendations Jane shared in the event can be explored on her blog.
We also asked, 'What's in a name?'...
My name is Jane Clarke, but I write under the name Jane Lythell.
This is because in my first discussion with my editor at Head of Zeus books she told me that there were already two published Jane Clarkes – a food writer and a children’s writer. A third might lead to confusion. Was there another name I would be happy to use? I’ve always liked my Mum’s maiden name of Lythell and I suggested this. ‘Oh yes, Lythell is good,’ my editor replied. ‘It’s mid-alphabet. Better not to be a V or a W, as your books will end up on the bottom shelves in bookshops.’
Names are so important to a writer, especially the titles chosen for your books. I have written four novels and on every occasion the publisher has come up with a different one to my working title. And they are always better. For example, I called my first novel The Long Shadow. It tells the story of two women who work together on a magazine and one of them (Heja) is trying to destroy her colleague (Kathy). Head of Zeus renamed it The Lie of You. This is much stronger. The three principal characters in the book all tell lies at one time or another. It is also an intriguing title, I think. Publishers put a lot of work into choosing titles and claim to know which specific words will act as a trigger to readers.
It is every writer’s dream that her book will have a new life on the screen. You can therefore imagine my delight when I heard The Lie of You was being made into a film starring Tuppence Middleton, Lydia Wilson, Luke Roberts and Rupert Graves, a favourite actor of mine.
The film stayed with the basic plot premise. Kathy returns to work after maternity leave and cannot understand why her professional and personal life is falling apart. She puts it down to her post-baby lack of focus, whereas her colleague Heja is actively sabotaging her. There were also significant changes made in the film. The producers wanted to sell it in the USA, so they moved the action to California. The British cast had to use American accents. They renamed Heja as Hannah. The drama was ratcheted up, and the milieu made more glamorous. No longer an architectural magazine, Kathy and Hannah now worked in advertising.
Lifetime Movies bought the film. They are part of Lifetime TV, an American pay channel with 94 million subscribers. This channel features programming geared towards women. Just as publishers know their audience, so do broadcasters. Lifetime Movies re-named the film A Working Mom’s Nightmare. It is not subtle, but it is very direct and certainly tells you what to expect in the film.
A friend asked if I minded that these changes had been made. I didn’t. I knew that once you sell the film rights, your book will have a new life as a different entity. In a novel you have 90,000 words to tell your story. A film has ninety minutes. The film premiered in the US in October 2019 and I was impressed at how suspenseful it was.
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