Author Interview: A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey
A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey is the second book in a companion series with the New York Times bestseller A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, which I read and loved, but you can read A British Girl’s Guide without having read A Cuban Girl’s Guide. Today I am sharing a short interview with the author, Laura Taylor Namey, to get us pumped for the release next Tuesday, 26th!
Also check out Laura Taylor Namey on tour – and celebrate the release launch at Mysterious Galaxy Books, and if you are not in San Diego, you can preorder a signed and/or personalized copy from the store & they will ship to you – deadline for online order personalization is 12pm PST on 9/26. Or order from any retailer (bookshop link) and submit proof for a signed bookplate, sticker sheet & more!
A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak (Girl’s Guide)
by Laura Taylor NameyPublished by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
on September 26 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
Bookshop
Goodreads
In this highly anticipated companion to the New York Times bestseller A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, Flora Maxwell heads to Miami to find a path for her future… and finds her heart along the way.
Winchester, England, has always been home for Flora, but when her mother dies after a long illness, Flora feels untethered. Her family expects her to apply to university and take a larger role in their tea-shop business, but Flora isn’t so sure. More than ever, she’s the chaotic “hurricane” in her household, and she doesn’t always know how to manage her stormy emotions.
So she decides to escape to Miami without telling anyone—especially her longtime friend Gordon Wallace.
But Flora’s tropical change of scenery doesn’t cast away her self-doubt. When it comes to university, she has no idea which passions she should follow. That’s also true in romance. Flora’s summer abroad lands her in the flashbulb world of teen influencer Baz Marín, a Miami Cuban who shares her love for photography. But Flora’s more conflicted than ever when she begins to see future architect Gordon in a new light.
Laura Taylor Namey’s newest novel navigates heartbreak that feels like a hurricane in a city that is famous for them.
Author Interview: Laura Taylor Namey
1. I adored the themes of tea & family in A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea & Tomorrow, now you are back in the same world with its companion book, A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes & Heartbreak, bringing us to Florida – was it harder to write a setting closer to home, getting all the details right?
First of all, thank you so much! I had such a fun time revisiting all of my childhood trips to Florida, which we’d do yearly. Of course, some things in Miami have changed since then, but I have a great network of family members who helped with all of that. And I got to visit Miami recently to attend a family wedding and take a bunch of pictures of the major sites Flora hangs out at in the story. I’d say writing Miami was easier than writing England because of my personal connection, but both places hold a special place in my heart.
2. What can readers/fans of A Cuban Girl’s Guide expect to experience in A British Girl’s Guide?
Even though British Girl has an English protagonist, you’ll still find an abundance of Cuban family culture, music, customs, and foods in this story. You’ll also experience some popular YA tropes but redone and turned upside down. And lastly, if you’re big fans of Llia Reyes and Orion Maxwell from Cuban Girl, you’ll get to see them and where they are three years later. I have a feeling you’ll be happy…
3. You mastered the theme of grief in A Cuban Girl’s Guide, what is the major theme in A British Girl’s Guide that you want to be sure readers are able to take away and grow from?
Thank you, again. British Girl centers on the theme of the different ways all of us handle our grief. Here, Flora, who has always been called a hurricane by her family, learns that she doesn’t always have to tackle a storm on her own by being a bigger storm. She can open up, and let people in, and learn to rely on her loved ones and her learned skills to withstand all of the storms and adversity life throws us.
4. Now that you have a companion set of novels, is there more coming from this world (if you can tell us) otherwise, what is next? (if both of those are off limits – we understand publishing timelines – next substitute question)
For now, this world ends here for us, but hopefully lives on in our imaginations. But, this world makes a teeny tiny easter egg appearance in my 2024 upcoming release, WITH LOVE, ECHO PARK.
This new book features the largest Latinx cast I’ve ever done, a tribute to the real history of Cuban settlers in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, and rivals to lovers protagonists Clary Delgado and Emilio Avalos and the way they navigate their shared corner of Echo Park, their constant irritation with one another, and some huge family secrets.
5. What books do you recommend reading next for fans of your books?
Please read all of the titles written by my beloved critique partners, Allison L. Bitz and Joan F. Smith. I worked closely on their books, and I’m so proud of them! Pick up The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom and The Other Side of Infinity and you won’t be disappointed.
About Laura Taylor Namey
LAURA TAYLOR NAMEY is the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author OF A CUBAN GIRL’S GUIDE TO TEA AND TOMORROW, a Reese Witherspoon YA Book Club pick, as well as A BRITISH GIRL’S GUIDE TO HURRICANES AND HEARTBREAK, WHEN WE WERE THEM, and THE LIBRARY OF LOST THINGS. A proud Cuban American, she can be found hunting for vintage treasures and wishing she was in London or Paris. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.
