In conversation with CURTIS SITTENFELD

The bestselling American novelist tells Zoe West about neurotic characters and what fascinates her

- Zoe West

Having reimagined Hillary Clinton's life in Rodham, written a novel inspired by Laura Bush in American Wife and entertained us with coming-of-age stories such as Prep, it's fair to say Curtis Sittenfeld is highly adept at conjuring up a vivid cast of female characters. Insightful, humorous and smart, she crosses literary and commercial genres. In her latest novel, Romantic Comedy, TV scriptwriter Sally Milz falls for singer Noah Brewster - will his supposed penchant for dating models rule her out? Curtis lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband, two daughters and a chihuahua.

Watching a lot of Saturday Night Live through the pandemic is where the idea for Romantic Comedy came from - and the first half of the book focuses on the week leading up to a show featuring our two leading characters. It's a huge phenomenon in America, and I noticed that famous, talented, beautiful women appear as musical acts or hosts on the show and end up dating- and in some cases marrying-male writers or cast members who are talented but not quite gods. The reverse is rarely true.