Today we talk about The Three Graces, a book by Hyza Wolf published with our Publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Hyza Wolf, to get to know her better, where and when she found the inspiration to write her debut book The Three Graces, as well as how her passion for writing started.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your debut book?
The inspiration for my debut novel, The Three Graces, came from my long observation of human relationships, particularly the complex ways in which love, power, dependency and manipulation can become intertwined. As a psychologist and psychotherapist, I have always been fascinated by what happens beneath the surface of relationships and by the mechanisms that can make people remain in situations that gradually diminish their freedom and identity. However, the novel was not written as a psychological case study. Literature gave me the freedom to transform these observations into characters, conflicts and stories. I wanted to explore what happens when women begin to recognise the invisible forces that control their lives and, little by little, reclaim their own voices.
- What is the message you want to convey to your readers?
I do not believe that literature should give readers a single message. I would rather give them questions. Across my novels, I am interested in freedom, dignity, justice and the different forms of power that can operate within relationships and society. I am particularly interested in what happens when people accept control in exchange for security, love, comfort or the promise of happiness. My characters are often confronted with systems or relationships that gradually take away their freedom. Yet I believe that resistance can begin with something very small: becoming aware, questioning what seems normal, and refusing to surrender one’s ability to choose. Ultimately, I hope my books invite readers to reflect on the price of freedom and on the courage, it sometimes takes to remain fully oneself.
- Where did your passion for Writing start?
My passion for writing began long before I thought of myself as a novelist. Psychology taught me to listen to people and to pay attention to the stories they tell, but literature taught me that there are also stories hidden behind what people say. For many years, my professional life was centred on psychology, psychotherapy, teaching and research. Writing fiction gradually became another way of exploring the human mind and human relationships, but with a different kind of freedom. In fiction, I can create situations that do not yet exist and ask, through my characters, what might happen if we allowed certain tendencies in society to go further.I think that is where my passion for writing truly comes from: from curiosity about human beings and from the need to ask questions that do not always have simple answers.
- How did you choose the title of your book?
The title The Three Graces refers to the three female figures at the heart of the novel and carries a deliberate connection with the classical image of the Three Graces. Traditionally associated with beauty, grace and femininity, the Graces also allowed me to play with the expectations historically placed upon women. My characters are not simply representations of an idealised femininity. They have their contradictions, wounds, desires and strengths. The title therefore has both a poetic and an ironic dimension. It evokes an ancient image of femininity while inviting the reader to discover what lies beneath it.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
Yes. I am currently working on two new novels, which explore very different forms of power. One is The Witch of the Factory, centred on Victória, a factory worker who discovers a collection of recipes for teas that give her extraordinary powers when they are used according to principles of justice. The novel combines elements of magical realism, social criticism and female empowerment, while exploring what happens when someone who has traditionally had very little power suddenly acquires the ability to change the lives of others. The other project moves into the territory of speculative fiction. It begins with a seemingly positive idea: people voluntarily choose to have implants placed in their brains in order to control anxiety and depression. Gradually, however, the technology becomes part of a much larger system of control. An international organisation begins to manipulate the implanted population, directing their emotions, decisions and behaviour according to the interests of those in power. At the centre of the story is a psychotherapist who refuses to accept this new reality and begins to question what is happening to her patients. The novel explores a question that I find increasingly important: if technology can control our suffering, our emotions and eventually our choices, where does treatment end and control begin? Although these three novels are very different in style and setting, they are connected by a common concern: the struggle between freedom and control, and the possibility of resisting when a person realises that someone else is trying to decide who they should be.
Europe Books thanks the author, Hyza Wolf, once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book The Three Graces. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, may this book this book spark your curiosity and allow you to reflect on the freedom and courage required in relationships and, more generally, in everyday life.
So, my dear readers, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!