Today it gives the Speculative Fiction Showcase great pleasure to interview Alison Levy, whose novel Magic by Any Other Name has its debut on November 7th.
Magic by Any Other Name is described as “a whimsical and cozy fantasy”, but also deals with painful subjects like emotional abuse and a narcissistic parent. How do you handle such differing themes?
Growing
up with emotional abuse does not mean that everything in your life will revolve
around that abuse. No matter how topsy-turvy your life is because of your narcissist
parent, there is a much larger world out there that is full of whimsy and cozy
moments. My main character spends the book gradually disentangling herself from
her narcissistic parent’s influence, a process many people, myself included,
have struggled through. Though it was important to show how challenging that
process is, it was equally important to show that not every moment in her life
is colored by it. The longer she lives away from her mother, the more often she
gets to enjoy the world’s whimsy.
The
main character, Georgette, grows up in a privileged magical family, but suffers
emotional abuse by her mother. What makes her decide to escape with her best
friend, wood-nymph Mei-Xing?
The
final straw for Georgette is when her mother and her boyfriend Zach (who her
mother instructed her to date in the first place) decide that they should get
engaged. Georgette finds out about this when they announce it publicly at a
party, without ever consulting her. Mei-Xing had watched Georgette’s family
abuse her for a long time but for Georgette, their behavior was normal. The impending
marriage changes things. Georgette had helped Mei-Xing flee China to escape an
abusive marriage and became her emotional support in the aftermath. Knowing
what her best friend went through before escaping her marriage opens
Georgette’s eyes to how bad her situation could get. With Mei-Xing’s support,
Georgette is finally able to run.
Georgette’s
story is to some extent based on your own experience of a narcissistic parent.
Why did you choose to write about it in the form of a fantasy novel?
Fantasy
is my preferred genre, it’s where I find my voice. Moreover, fantasy can appeal
to the kind of young person I once was when I really needed the message of this
book. I read a lot of fantasy as a kid—still do!—and reading a story about
someone learning to identify emotional abuse and trying to recover from it
would have spoken to me on a personal level. I hope my book can do that for
someone!
This
is clearly a deeply felt and personal narrative. What do you want your readers
to take away from it?
That
even though emotional abuse doesn’t leave a bruise, it is still abuse and it
can have a lasting effect. I want readers who have struggled with emotional
abuse to know that what’s happened to them isn’t their fault and that it’s okay
for them to prioritize their own well-being. Recovery is a process and it takes
work but the first step is understanding that the way you’ve been treated is
not okay. You deserve to put yourself first.
You
have said that reading fantasy helped you to deal with a difficult family
environment growing up. What did you read and where did it lead you?
Fantasy
books were my escape from reality. I used to rush through my schoolwork so I
could sneak a book out of my bag and submerge myself in a world of magic. I
read a bunch of Brian Jacques Redwall series; as an animal lover, I
loved the idea of animals talking and living complicated lives that we can’t
see. As I got older, my narcissistic parent would tease me for reading “silly”
fantasy books; he always expected me to be mature beyond my years. Because of
this, I gravitated toward books like The Jungle Book, Dracula, and
The Hobbit. They were fantasy but, as “classic” books, my family didn’t
look down on them so much. Trying to avoid being teased meant I probably missed
out on a lot of great books but it also led me to mythology. I fell head over
heels for the classic book Bullfinch’s Mythology and I’ve been reading
myths ever since!
What
can you tell us about Georgette’s adventures when she leaves her home? Where
does she go and who does she meet?
From
her family home in Boston, MA, Georgette drives west with her best friend,
Mei-Xing. She doesn’t have a destination in mind, she just wants to put as much
distance between herself and her family as possible. The first thing she does
is track down her long-lost aunt who escaped from the family decades ago so she
can ask for advice on how to stay off her mother’s magical radar. Afterwards,
she and Mei-Xing encounter a Bultungin, a Werehyena, who desperately needs her
help to escape the witch who imprisoned him and to find his missing wife. Once
in California, she meets a Vampire, a Valkyrie, and a lot of other beings!
What
do the words “found family” mean to you?
Found
family is a group of close friends who provide unconditional love and support
for each other. Found family can be short term—a group that bands together for
a task or a set period of time—or it can be life-long. For some people, found
family is the only true, loving family they’ve ever had.
Found
family is a powerful trope in Fantasy. Why is this particularly resonant today?
For
a long time, people have been raised on the idea that blood is thicker than
water, that family stays together no matter what. Because of that mentality, so
many victims of narcissists keep going back to their abusers. But in recent
days, society is beginning to understand that staying with blood relatives is
not always be the best option. For those who decide that for their well-being
they need to distance themselves from their birth families, finding people who
genuinely care for them fills a space inside them that may have been empty for
a long time. Found family provides a sense of love and support that many have
lacked all of their lives. For many people, found family is the bond they’ve
always longed for.
What
can you tell us about the characters Mei-Xing, Ishak and Neil?
Mei-Xing
is a Wood Nymph born and raised in northern China. Her relatives married her
off to a Water Spirit as a political alliance t0 ensure they would never suffer
a drought but her husband forced Mei-Xing to ruin her health by growing
narcotic plants to sell. Eventually, she chose to fake her death to save her
own life.
Ishak
is a Bultungin, a Werehyena, who was abducted from his home along with his wife
and held prisoner by a witch. He’s a devoted husband who won’t rest until he’s
found the woman he loves.
Neil
is an average man—not a witch, not a Fae, just a hard-working salesman who’s
getting his MBA after work hours. He doesn’t believe in magic but he’s immediately
charmed by Georgette.
You
mention Georgette’s understanding of privilege, in parallel with your own growing
awareness when researching Magic by Any Other Name. How did it affect
you as a writer?
All
the research I did on privilege really drove home to me how much of the world
I’ve been blind to for much of my life. Part of growing up with a narcissistic
parent is only seeing the world through a narrow lens; it’s to the abuser’s
benefit that their victims don’t see enough of the world to grasp how messed up
the narcissist’s behavior is. Learning about privilege really helped me look at
day-to-day life from a different perspective and improve my writing from a
variety of characters’ points of view.
How
did you deal with the idea of privilege in the setting of a magical world?
In
the real world, privilege comes in many forms: socioeconomic, racial,
sex-based, gender-based, etc. In my book, privilege takes the form of magic. Georgette
is a witch and as such she has grown up in a society that thinks nothing of capturing
and draining Fae creatures of their powers for their own benefit. For most of
her life, Georgette was raised in a culture where this behavior is normal and
though she found it distasteful, she didn’t question it too deeply. It isn’t
until Georgette gets away from her family that she sees just how horrible this
system really is. Being a witch has made her immune to this sort of magical
mistreatment, she just didn’t know it until she left her family.
What
can you tell us about Nico, the curandero who becomes like a therapist to her?
Nico
is being trained by his aunt to become a curandero, a traditional shamanic
healer. He’s also taking psychology classes and interning at a counselling
facility. This innately kind young man has a gift for helping others, whether
through therapy or magic. Because he has a foot in both worlds, he’s in a
unique position to counsel Georgette, to help her start processing and
overcoming her trauma.
Who
is Kazimiera, the vampire who becomes Georgette’s employer - but not a good one?
Kazimiera
is a morally ambiguous character. She runs a business that helps Fae victims of
witches but she’s not doing it out of the kindness of her heart. She refuses to
get emotionally invested in her employees and pours all her energy into staying
busy and maximizing her investment. She needs a witch on her staff to keep the
business running but she and Georgette find themselves at odds very quickly.
You
won the CIBA Award for your first series, The Daemon Collecting Series.
Will there be sequels to Magic by Any Other Name?
I
hope so! I’m working on the second book and I’m planning for a third. We’ll see
what happens!
Where
do you see yourself going from here? What will you write next?
I’d love to stay with this series
to its conclusion but after that… haven’t decided. We’ll see where the muse
takes me!
Amazon
About Alison Levy:
Alison Levy lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with her husband, son, and a variety of pets. When she’s not writing or doing mom things, she crochets, gardens, and walks her collies. Find out more on her website.
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