Farzana Doctor's New YA Novel is About Surviving Hardship, the Power of Friendship, and Growing Up

Acclaimed author and psychotherapist Farzana Doctor has explored the human condition in-depth through her adult fiction and non-fiction, and now her latest novel is a richly woven work for young adult readers.

In The Beauty of Us (ECW Press), the author takes us back to 1984, and to Thorton College private school, where 15-year-old Zahabiya has been sent after convincing her newly remarried father to let her leave home. When she arrives, she is unsure if she'll fit in, but joins a clique of clever students and tries to navigate friendship and crushes along the way. 

Zahabiya and her new friends are all racialized girls, who often find themselves victimizing by the bullying of 17-year-old Leesa, who has been climbing the social ladder at school with a ruthlessness that covers a deeply guarded secret in her personal life. When these girls uncover the secret, they have to decide whether to help Leesa despite her actions and ambitions.

We also encounter Nahla, who finds herself in her first real teaching job as an art instructor at the college. But, she is distracted by her own secrets and mysteries after discovering a cryptic notebook left behind by her deceased predecessor, Mademoiselle Leblanc.

It's a emotionally complex novel about growing up that explores what is means to struggle against hardship and social strife, and to lean on the strength of true friendships. To learn more about the novel, check out this Bright Young Things YA interview with the author right here!

Open Book:

Tell us about your new book and how it came to be.

Farzana Doctor:

Set in the 80’s at an Ontario boarding school, this is a novel about a group of BIPOC girls who solve a mystery and catch an abuser. It’s told through alternating perspectives: Zahabiya, an awkward 15-year old new girl who’s “run away” from home to Thornton College; Leesa, a 17 year old popular and smart bully who’s holding a big and dangerous secret; and Nahla, a young woman in her first teaching gig who is being influenced by the ghost of the teacher she’s replaced.

The setting and some of the characters were inspired by one very weird year of my own life when I applied to a boarding school. But it’s otherwise (mostly) fiction.

OB:

What, in your opinion, is unique about writing for young adults? What are some of the pleasures and challenges?

FD:

I’ve written four adult novels before The Beauty of Us so I was trying to answer this question throughout the writing process. I still don’t have a great answer but I tried to remember what it was like to be sixteen—the world felt wide open, yet my own world still so small. It’s writing a POV that’s both mature but without all the knowledge of context and the wisdom we need time to grow into. 

I was interested in shifting gears to write YA mostly because I like to stretch my skills as a writer (In the past I’ve written a book of poetry, ventured into magical realism, and written non-fiction for this reason). And because the inspiration for The Beauty of Us comes from my own youth, it felt like this novel was a good candidate for this new adventure!

It was fun to recall 80’s pop culture references, but also poignant to remember what it was like to live with youthful risk and relative powerlessness. 

One piece of advice I followed (from a talk I attended years ago) was to ensure that the young characters remain at the centre of the problems and their solutions. And so the adults in the book are more peripheral and somewhat ineffectual. 

OB:

Did your book turn out similar to how you original expected it to, or did it change through the writing process?

FD:

I’d wanted Zahabiya to be a naïve character, a counterpoint to Leesa’s more sophisticated perspective. Zahabiya comes from a small Ontario town, is fairly sheltered, and has never kissed a boy. It’s her first time living away from home. Leesa, on the other hand, has been in boarding school since she was 12 and her neglectful parents, who live in Paris, haven’t been noticing that she’s in trouble. What they both have in common is feeling alone and estranged from their parents.

Early feedback from my editor was that Zahabiya was sounding 13 instead of her 15/16. And so I needed to work hard to shift her internal thoughts and dialogue to better reflect the naivety that suited her age. I didn’t need to edit much with Leesa’s character (it’s fun to write a mean girl!) except to bring in more nuance around her vulnerability and longings.

Nahla’s character, being an adult, gave me the least trouble! But of course, in the editing stage I worked to make her more relatable and complex.

OB: 

Is there a character in your book that you relate to? If so, in what ways are you similar to your character and in what ways are you different?

FD:

I always relate a little bit to all my characters, perhaps because I have to draw on parts of myself, my observations and experiences to begin the process where I then launch into more imaginative places.

That being said, I gave Zahabiya pieces of my own backstory—a mom who died, a complicated home life, and super awkward social skills! She’s also an animal lover, who talks to all the creatures she meets (as I do!).

OB:

What was the strangest or most memorable moment or experience during the writing process for you? 

FD: 

In March 2023, I booked a week at Purcell’s Cove, Nova Scotia to complete edits on the book. I was alone for five days, and found myself waking with the sun and working straight for fourteen hours. This is unusual for me—I’m not a morning person and I typically tire or get distracted after a couple of hours. I credit the ocean for this energy and inspiration!

OB:

What are you working on now? 

FD:

I’m working on a new novel—it’s contemporary adult lit fic, but my current stretch is to learn to be funnier! So I’m experimenting with humour and satire with this new book.

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Farzana Doctor is a Tkaronto-based author, activist, and psychotherapist. She has written four critically acclaimed novels, a poetry collection, and a self-care workbook for helpers and activists. Doctor received the prestigious Freedom to Read Award in 2023, and in 2020, Seven was chosen as an Amnesty International Book Club’s Reader’s Choice Pick.