Notes on a Heartbreak author Annie Lord knows that great books don’t have to be “perfect”
In her debut memoir, Notes on Heartbreak, Annie Lord reveals the unraveling of a five-year relationship and the emotional aftermath of losing the person she believed she would spend her life with. Throughout her memoir, Lord examines love, obsession, and recovery in the wake of devastating heartbreak.
We asked Lord to answer our My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her book.
What was the first book you were obsessed with as a child?
I loved the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. I remember being so into it as a kid that when I got to tense bits my eyes would skip further down the page without me wanting them to so that I’d see what was going to happen.
What book helped you through puberty?
The Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging series. They made me feel less insecure about my body and showed me that it’s okay to be weird and awkward. I remember feeling quite annoyed though because I felt that in real life Georgia would never have ended up with a popular.
What book do you wish 18-year-old you had read?
Maybe All About Love by bell hooks because it would have been good for me to de-centre men and make me see that romantic love is not the only important love.
If you were to teach a class on Damn Good Writing, what books would make the syllabus?
Sometimes, with writing, I find it more helpful not to focus on the most talented people of all time because sometimes they can make you feel like what the hell is even the point in trying. I’ve read books where I think, “Wow, that was so entertaining and it’s interesting because its plot is messy, and flags in places, and some characters don’t make sense at points, and it’s helpful because it makes you realise that for something to be a great book, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I find that reading these kinds of books are more instructive than reading, say, Sally Rooney and wondering how the hell someone can write something so gorgeous, so true to the human experience. Although obviously we should read those things as well, because they are gorgeous.
What books helped guide you while writing your book?
A lot of Maggie Nelson’s writing, because I saw how it could be disjointed and broken up, and that helped me find the structure that allowed things to flow. I really liked the sentimentality and intensity of By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, there’s a lot of pressure for writing to be restrained and precise and I feel like that book gave me permission to be gushy and emotional and raw. Sharon Old’s Stag’s Leap because it’s so romantic even though it’s about a divorce, it made me realise I could do the same, could make Notes on Heartbreak romantic even if it’s about the end of something.
What books are on your nightstand now?
I don’t actually have a nightstand. When it’s time to read something else I just scan my bookshelf for something new. There will be a small stack from a recent trip to a book shop, some proof copies I’ve been sent and then a mass of books that I’ve already read or haven’t yet but there’s some kind of block which prevents me from ever reading them even though I theoretically think they’d be interesting. At the moment I’m reading I Want You To Be Happy by Jem Calder, it’s out next year. I’m really enjoying it, it’s so true to modern life and relationships, almost too true in that it really makes you realise how depressing the world with it’s QR menus and craft ale and endless emails and rush hour and everything, I feel so painfully seen by it, I realise I’ve probably never had a unique feeling in my life, ever.
