Laila Ibrahim

Laila Ibrahim is the bestselling author of After the Rain, Scarlet Carnation, Golden Poppies, Paper Wife, Mustard Seed, and Yellow Crocus. Before becoming a novelist, she worked as a preschool director, a birth doula, and a religious educator. Drawing from her experience in these positions, along with her education in developmental psychology and attachment theory, she finds rich inspiration for her novels. She’s a devout Unitarian Universalist, determined to do her part to add a little more love and justice to our beautiful and painful world. She lives with her wonderful wife, Rinda, and two other families in a small cohousing community in Berkeley, California. Her children and their families are her pride and joy. When she isn’t writing, she likes to cuddle with her dog Hazel, take walks with friends, study the Enneagram, do jigsaw puzzles, play games, work in the garden, travel, cook, and eat all kinds of delicious food.

Ibrahim's new novel is Falling Wisteria.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I put so much thought into my titles. And they don't come to me quickly. I needed Falling Wisteria to be culturally sensitive, stand alone and fit with the Yellow Crocus series which meant a plant or flower. My initial working title was Cherry Blossom, but one of my Japanese American beta readers thought it was a stereotypical trope, so I wanted to change it. To be honest I didn't want to go full on purple since I'm heading there, but haven't gotten to the end of the family saga yet. When I googled 'Japanese flowers that grow in the SF Bay Area' I was delighted to see wisteria on the list. I knew at once it was the flower that would be in the title. I have a beautiful wisteria plant in my backyard--they are very common in Berkeley, but I didn't realize they were native to Japan.

Wisteria is a perfect metaphor for making it through hard times, for finding beauty in the midst of pain and of learning to make a home in a new place.

What's in a name?

For this novel, Falling Wisteria, I used names from my own family and friends--with their permission of course. It was fun, and a little unsettling, to use so many familiar names. The main character, Kay Lynn, was named after my daughter, Klin, in the previous novel. On more than one occasion I misspelled my main character's name. I named Kay Lynn's daughter Lizzie, after the character in my first novel, Lisbeth, who is her great grandmother. And I chose my brother's name for Kay Lynn's brother, and my son-in-law's name for Kay Lynn's husband. The Fujiokas are named for our family friends, Kimiko, Donna and George, though in real life Donna and George are the parents and Kimiko is their daughter.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Very surprised. I always loved reading, but I was not a natural writer. The stories would surprise my teenage self, but the discipline and devotion to writing would be a shock.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Each story reflects something I've struggled with in my life. I'm certain I was processing COVID and the complexity of a worldwide pandemic in Falling Wisteria. Kay Lynn was overwhelmed by the news, uncertain what she needed to pay attention to in the world versus taking care of her own small world. There was so much happening in so many places all at once. There was also no knowing how long it would go on.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I appreciate a psycho-spiritual tool called the Enneagram. Friends told me about it in the early 2000, but I didn't learn much about it then. In 2016 I realized it would help me with character development--for my writing. But after doing a deeper dive into it I have come to value it for my personal character development. It's a great tool for giving me more compassion and insight to myself and to other people.

Visit Laila Ibrahim's website.

--Marshal Zeringue