{"id":43422,"date":"2019-06-13T08:57:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T12:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/lifestyle\/?p=43422"},"modified":"2026-11-03T16:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T21:41:40","slug":"mhairi-mcfarlane-talks-about-her-latest-novel-dont-you-forget-about-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/lifestyle\/2019\/06\/mhairi-mcfarlane-talks-about-her-latest-novel-dont-you-forget-about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Mhairi McFarlane Talks About Her Latest Novel Don’t You Forget About Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the latest issue of Real Style Magazine<\/a>, we had a chance to chat with author Mhairi McFarlane about her latest novel, Don’t You Forget About Me. In it she discusses why she chose the classic Simple Minds song as the title, why her main character is so relatable, what she thinks about rom-coms, and more. Here is a part of that interview.<\/p>\n

Real Style: What was it about the Simple Minds\u2019 song that made you decide it was perfect for the title of your novel?<\/strong><\/em>
\nMhairi McFarlane:<\/strong> <\/em>The title was originally Don\u2019t You Want Me, after the Human League hit. The protagonist in the lyrics is working in a cocktail bar, the band is from Sheffield, it seemed perfect! However, the art department felt that was a little passive, a little needy, so we looked around for titles that conveyed the same sort of punchy yearning and hit upon the Simple Minds track. It\u2019s got that yearning quality that I love.<\/p>\n

RS:<\/strong><\/em> Was it a conscious decision when you sat down to write the novel to make it relevant to today\u2019s news?
\nMM:<\/strong><\/em> The strange thing was, it absolutely wasn\u2019t, and my editor could back me up on this. We worked out this plot before the Harvey Weinstein scandal and Me Too, any of it. When those stories broke, I realised Don\u2019t You Forget About Me would look intentional, but it wasn\u2019t. Of course, it\u2019s less of a coincidence when you realise these behaviours and traumas have always been part of society, it\u2019s only our awareness and the level of media coverage that changed in Me Too. I felt very strongly that because these sort of experiences are part of many women\u2019s lives, they have a place in women\u2019s fiction and romantic comedy. There\u2019s nothing in the rules that says rom coms have to always be light!<\/p>\n

To read the full article, subscribe for free to Real Style Magazine<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo: Mhairi McFarlane<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the latest issue of Real Style Magazine, we had a chance to chat with author Mhairi McFarlane about her latest novel, Don’t You Forget About Me. In it she discusses why she chose the classic Simple Minds song as the title, why her main character is so relatable, what she thinks about rom-coms, and more. Here is a part of that interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":43423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20189,28188],"tags":[27391,2283,27393,27392,13092,26567],"class_list":["post-43422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-interviews","tag-author-interview","tag-books","tag-dont-you-forget-about-me","tag-mhairi-mcfarlane","tag-new-books","tag-summer-reads"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t