Chanel Bonfire (32 page)
Authors: Wendy Lawless
The title was originally just a chapter heading in the London section of the book, where the wild, teenage, back
yard bonfire party scene was. My husband (the screenwriter David Kidd) and I were brainstorming titles in the kitchen one night, and he landed on this one. It sounded catchy, or so we thought. I wanted to, needed to pull people in right away, while I was trying to find an agent, and then sell the book. It worked; people responded to it.
What I hadn’t really thought about at the time I chose it was how much it resonates. Now I realize that it captures the idea of the dual nature of and danger of the beautiful façade my mother tried so hard to create: something that looks elegant but underneath is quite frightening and unstable. There are also the obvious parallels between our relationships and the complex nature of fire itself—comforting, destructive, explosive and short-lived. And of course the clothes which are pervasive in the story and which meant so much to my mother as a sign of her achievement and a disguise for who she felt she had been. And they were so beautiful, too.
7. You’ve appeared on television, in regional theater, and on Broadway. Can you identify one role you’ve played that has stayed with you over the years?
It would most likely be Frankie in “The Member of the Wedding” by Carson McCullers. She is a lonely, imaginative, girl who wants desperately to belong to something. She just aches all over. I always identified with Frankie’s search for her identity, and her deep desire to grow. Coincidentally, my stepfather, Oliver Rea, produced the original Broadway production in 1950, with Ethel Waters and Julie Harris as Frankie.
8. One of your teachers in London, Mr. Jesse, advises,
“Life is short, and one musn’t squander one’s talents, don’t you agree?”
What would you say to Mr. Jesse today if you crossed paths with him?
I would thank him for his encouragement, for teaching me to love words, and for showing me so many beautiful and useful things. And that I have tried to live up to his expectations for life.
9. What can you tell us about the process of writing
Chanel Bonfire
? Did you look through photo albums or use other methods to refresh your memory?
I did look at photos, of course, the ones that I have. Unfortunately, most of the ones of my teen years were destroyed by my mother. And I listened to music from the time period I was working in. During the first section of the book, 1960s in Manhattan, it was Astrud Gilberto and Frank Sinatra. Then, in early ‘70s London, it was T. Rex, David Bowie, and Elton John. Late ‘70s Boston was Cheap Trick, Tom Petty, Human Sexual Response, and Madness, of course. Music can really trigger memories for me.
I think I got this method from when I was acting; I’d pick a song or an album that I felt was the soundtrack to the character I was playing.
10. What are you working on now? Will there be a follow-up to
Chanel Bonfire
?
I am working on the sequel to
Chanel Bonfire
. The girl without a roadmap for life finds herself in the gritty, dangerous, exciting nadir of downtown New York City. As in
Chanel
, it’s darkly funny and terribly misguided—an eighties party girl looking for love in all the wrong places, with a thrift store wardrobe, punk rockers, buzz cuts, drug parties, cross-dressing, birth control issues, and run-ins with the FBI. It’s the story of a young actress in New York in the early 1980s, not only searching for Mr. Right, but also for an identity, a job, and maybe a free meal. Oh, and she has a crazy mother.
WENDY LAWLESS
has published essays on motherhood and Hollywood in the Los Angeles–area press. A stage and television actress, she appeared on Broadway in
The Heidi Chronicles
and off-Broadway in the Obie Award–winning play
All in the Timing
. She lives in California with her screenwriter husband and their two children. Follow her on
Twitter.com/wendylawless2
.
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A NOTE TO READERS
Names and identifying details of some of the people portrayed
in this book have been changed.
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Copyright © 2013 by Wendy Lawless
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Gallery Books hardcover edition January 2013
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lawless, Wendy.
Chanel bonfire / Wendy Lawless. -- 1st Gallery Books hardcover ed.
p. cm.
Summary: “Wendy Lawless’s stunning memoir of resilience in the face of an unstable alcoholic and suicidal mother”-- Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Lawless, Wendy. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States—Biography. 3. Actresses—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.L28555A3 2013
791.4302’8092--dc23
[B]
2012011324
ISBN 978-1-4516-7536-8 (hardback)
ISBN 978-1-4516-7538-2 (ebook)