Turning reality TV and reinvention into riveting fiction

IT was a friendship forged with The Bachelorette 2014 winner Sam Frost during her time working on the show that inspired Naima Brown’s debut novel, The Shot.

The book follows a ruthless reality TV producer who offers a contestant extreme plastic surgery in a bid to help her win back an old flame under a new identity. It examines such issues as society’s obsession with beauty, the cost of ambition and the lengths people will go to for love.

“It became apparent to me very early on in my experience that reality TV was a perfect vehicle to examine questions of power, exploitation and identity — particularly female identity in the age of the self as content,” the Ballina-based author said.

Her latest novel, Mother Tongue, continues her exploration of feminine themes, this time turning the lens on motherhood and societal expectations of women’s lives. Its protagonist, Brynn, is a suburban mother on the edge of a breakdown. After waking from a coma speaking fluent French, she seizes the moment to reinvent herself in Paris, leaving behind a trail of heartbreak and upheaval.

Brown was inspired by a real-life story of an Australian man who, after suffering a traumatic brain injury, woke up speaking fluent Mandarin and decided to relocate to China.

“I found this premise so gripping and began thinking about how the same event or opportunity would be understood by a young woman, who was also a mother, a wife, daughter and best friend,” she said. “And what if she had, secretly, been waiting for something like this to happen to her for a long time?”

In addition to her fiction work, Brown co-wrote the non-fiction book How to Age Against the Machine with TV presenter Melissa Doyle. Born and raised in Northern California, she holds degrees in Middle Eastern studies, anthropology and religious studies. Her global perspective is shaped by time spent living in Yemen, where she studied Arabic, and Afghanistan.

Brown is looking forward to examining the themes her writing explores at the upcoming Byron Writers Festival.

“I am chomping at the bit to dive headlong into big, juicy conversations about female relationships and the many roles that women play — motherhood, sisterhood, daughterhood, wifehood,” she said. “I am also eager to discuss the idea of the anti-hero, which is how my female characters are often described, and what that says about our inherent views about women and likeability.”

Byron Writers Festival will take place at Bangalow Showground from August 8 to 10.

For more information and tickets, visit byronwritersfestival.com