Cover Aube Rey Lescure with her debut novel at a book signing event in Edinburgh in June 2024 (Photo: Instagram/@aubenoisette)
Aube Rey Lescure with her debut novel at a book signing event in Edinburgh in June 2024 (Photo: Instagram/@aubenoisette)
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French Chinese American writer Aube Rey Lescure, whose debut novel was shortlisted for Women’s Prize for Fiction, wants to empower young writers
French Chinese American writer Aube Rey Lescure doesn’t have a university degree in writing, but her whole life has given her the material she needed for her first novel River East, River West.
Written in two timelines—Shanghai, 2007 and Qingdao, 1985—the book takes the perspectives of Alva, a mixed-race teenager in Shanghai inspired by Rey Lescure herself, and Lu Fang, her new stepfather and an older Chinese businessman respectively. The two navigate their identities in the rapidly changing landscape of China.
Published in January 2024, it was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Maya Angelou Book Award and the Stanfords’ Fiction with a Sense of Place Award.
Rey Lescure, who is now based in the US, will visit Hong Kong on March 1 for a talk about her book at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Ahead of her visit, Tatler caught up with her on her writing experience and inspiration behind the book.
Above Aube Rey Lescure (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
Aube Rey Lescure (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
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What inspired River East, River West?
I grew up straddling the worlds of my Chinese family in Shanghai and northern China and having a “foreign” passport, a “foreign” mother and a window into expat society, status and life. When I was 14, I switched from a Chinese public school to international school. I faced a level of dissonance: Chinese education felt very regimented while being an expat in China was like being in the Wild West or Las Vegas where you could do anything you wanted. It was exhilarating. At the time, I couldn’t put it into words. But I did want to capture the richness and complexity of all these social dynamics.
Tell us how this mixed-race experience shaped the book.
Living abroad and being mixed-race has everything to do with the themes explored in this book: what does it mean to love a culture or a country? What does it mean to have access to it or not being able to return? Writing River East, River West made me think about the process of breaking away from the concept of “this other country is better than my home country”, or the one-way path of immigrating from a developing country in the east to a developed country in the west as an unquestioned premise that everyone would want.
I really wanted to explore how if I say that I love China, what does that mean? Am I talking about the political entity? Probably not as much as I’m talking about something more amorphous, like my family. That push and pull allowed me to dive into various nuances of [my multicultural background] and what it means to long for another place.
Above A young Rey Lescure and her family in Shanghai (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
A young Rey Lescure and her family in Shanghai (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
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Why did you decide to write your debut novel in English?
I had been in the American education system for six years. At the time, it felt like English had become the language in which I felt most confident. Also, the material and commentary of this book are mostly for Western readers and expats. There is a bit of satirical element too. I’ve heard from Chinese readers who just find it really funny the way I describe Chinese middle school, like, they said they don’t need to hear that expats are behaving poorly. So, I don’t need to write that book in Chinese. The language would completely change the substance of the book.
You worked in foreign policy before becoming a writer. What made you switch to writing?
Writing has always been my great passion. It just didn’t feel like a realistic career. So I studied foreign affairs in college, which felt interesting and practical and that motivated me to be a diplomat. I wanted to travel the world and have an impact on international relations. I worked for one year at a foreign policy think tank in Washington, DC. Getting up every day to do graduate student research on US-China relations was interesting but that was not “it” for me. That’s when I thought: what if I just saved up money, travelled the world and started freelance writing and editing?
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Above The cover of “River East, River West” (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
The cover of “River East, River West” (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
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What is it about writing that you like so much?
There’s an infinity of nuances, moods and delicate shades of emotions and details that we’re always trying to capture and express. What brings me the greatest satisfaction is seeing how a work of art—be that literature, movie or music—evokes, captures or immerses me in a shade of feeling that nothing else can.
What did your book being shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction mean to you?
It was an amazing and gratifying development that I did not expect at all. The recognition is a constant reminder to authors, you don’t know what life your book will have. Older and wiser writer friends and editors have said to me, “Hold your nerve. Your book will have a life that you cannot control or imagine”.
Above Aube Rey Lescure holding a lecture on writing (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
Aube Rey Lescure holding a lecture on writing (Photo: courtesy of Aube Rey Lescure)
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Is the publishing industry an inclusive space for women?
Famously, it hasn’t been an inclusive space for the vast majority of the history of the publication industry in the US. In the past few years, due to political pressures and some changemakers inside the publishing industry, American publishers have made a huge effort to improve diversity. For the most part, it’s more related to racial diversity than gender diversity. Where gender comes into play is how academic books or books that are considered to be intellectual, serious reporting or prize contenders are still mostly being written and published by men.
The other thing I’ll say about gender is the gap in the negotiation for prices and honorariums between male and female writers. I’m an editor, and I deal with all kinds of writers who come to my inbox to pitch stories. What I’ve noticed is that male writers dare to ask for higher rates and often get more. As a young woman, I’ve repeatedly told myself to channel that energy in the past few years.
What advice would you offer to aspiring writers?
I’m a huge believer of the workshop model, so I advise finding a writing community, be that a class, local workshop, writing group or university programme. Writing can be a very lonely process and editing can be a marathon. I thought about pursuing an MFA, but for many reasons, I didn’t do it. I did take writing classes from local organisations in the cities I was living in, and I credit my classmates and teachers for the existence of this book, because they gave me deadlines, structure and a community.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
