Writing under a joint pseudonym, sisters Lynne and Val Constantine follow up their cunning bestseller The Last Mrs. Parrish with The Next Mrs. Parrish, in which the prior book’s wealthy manipulators face a ghost from the past.
What made you want to return to these characters?
Valerie: We always intended The Last Mrs. Parrish to be a standalone novel. Then we wrote a short prequel called The First Shot, and we realized that Daisy, a woman from Amber’s past, also had a story to tell. We felt like her backstory and her history with Amber would be something interesting to explore in a sequel.
Lynne: It was an intimidating prospect, because we didn’t want to just serve up a sequel since the first one was popular; what we really cared about was making The Next Mrs. Parrish worthy of The Last Mrs. Parrish.
Both of these books center on the wives of the rich and powerful. What drew you to write about such women?
Lynne: The Last Mrs. Parrish was all about one woman coveting another woman’s life. Amber was the struggling assistant writing the checks for this other woman’s seemingly fairy-tale lifestyle, so she decided to seize it for herself without understanding the truth about the life she coveted or the woman she wanted to supplant. That envy fascinated us.
Valerie: And then in the sequel, Daisy has a great husband, but he’d rather have her at the kids’ tennis games than pursuing this justice against Amber that’s very important to her. This time, it’s about a woman trying to find her own way.
Speaking of envy, you don’t skimp on descriptions of the characters’ fabulous wealth in either novel.
Valerie: The luxury goods are crucial to the envy that drives Amber in The Last Mrs. Parrish, and contribute, in both books, to the sense that these characters are up against clubs and
societies that are very hard to penetrate.
Lynne: Researching that market was a lot of fun, if a bit mind-boggling. It’s still hard to imagine paying $10,000 for a robe that you would only use after you shower.
Amber is, quite plainly, a villain. How were you able to make her a well-rounded, three-dimensional character?
Valerie: Personally, we feel a frustrated fascination with all of these characters. They have so much talent. Why can’t they just turn their powers to the good? We don’t know if that’s what motivates readers as well, but they love outrageously bad characters—like Tom Ripley. Here’s hoping the world is ready for a Mrs. Ripley in the form of a Mrs. Parrish.
