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Author Interview: Iris Lav, A Wife in Bangkok

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Interviews

Iris Lav

author of A Wife in Bangkok

Iris Mitlin Lav grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. She moved with her husband to Washington, DC. in 1969, where they raised three children. She is retired from a long career of policy analysis and management with an emphasis on improving policies for low- and moderate-income families, the last 25 years of which were with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  She has taught public finance at Johns Hopkins University and George Mason University, and in 1999, received the prestigious Steven D. Gold award for contributions to state and local fiscal policy.  She has an MBA from George Washington University and an AB from the University of Chicago.

She has traveled extensively in the US and abroad, both for her job and her husband’s. They lived in Bangkok, Thailand for two years in the 1970s when her husband was posted there for his work.  They now live in Chevy Chase, Maryland. 

Me: Tell us about the A Wife in Bangkok.

Iris: A Wife in Bangkok is a story of resilience, set in Thailand.  Crystal reluctantly follows her husband to Bangkok for his job and experiences isolation and betrayal there.  She lives through a series of frightening and shocking events and must decide what she wants to do about her marriage and her life going forward.

Me: What inspired you to write it?

 

Iris: I lived in Bangkok with my husband and children in the mid-1970s.  Although my experience there was much different and happier than my protagonist’s, I wanted to highlight issues of women having to follow their husbands’ career to other countries and what that means for their own lives and careers.  And I wanted readers to learn something about Thai culture and the beauty of the country.

 

Me: Describe your writing life?

 

Iris: I began writing this book at age 70, after retiring from a long, award-winning career in public policy devoted to improving the lives of low-income people. I wrote regularly for about two hours every weekday morning. When I came to a point where I didn’t know what I wanted to write next, I stopped writing and went about the rest of the day. When I sat down the next morning, I almost always knew what to write. I think my subconscious mind worked on the story while I wasn’t doing so.

Me: What surprised you the most about your book’s journey?

 

Iris: I was surprised that the novel actually happened. I had written many, many policy papers while I was working, and liked to write, but I hadn’t done any creative writing since high school. I didn’t take any courses or work with any writing groups, I just sat down to write the novel.  And I am grateful to She Writes Press, which makes it possible for someone like me, with no literary platform, to publish a novel.

Me: What are your future writing plans?

 

Iris: I am trying to figure out if I have it in me to write another novel. I am playing with writing a historical novel about Jews in Belarus around the turn of the 20th century.  My adult children would like me to write a private memoir; I wouldn’t do a public one but maybe writing a private one will give me some other ideas. We’ll see what happens.  

Learn more about Iris and A Wife in Bankok on her webpage.

To buy click here.

 

Want more author interviews? Check out this one with Marian O’Shea Wernicke, author of Toward That Which Is Beautiful.