EW talked to Davies about coming out later in life, representations of lesbian sex, and more.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I devouredIn at the Deep End.
And I got the idea an embarrassingly long time ago.
Credit: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
So I started writing it in 2011 as a novel, and the first draft was veryBridget Joness Diary.
And then in 2014, I went to see Lena Dunham, who was in conversation with Caitlin Moran.
She was talking about truth in comedy and how thats often the funniest thing.
In 2015, a new law was introduced in the U.K. which criminalized coercive or controlling behavior.
And I realized that I wanted to write about that.
I threw out the really rom-com version and started all over again in 2015.
Julia has this realization that shes a lesbian and shes just SO excited about it.
So I just ignored it through my late teens, early 20s.
And then I kind of made it [through that period].
I love being queer, and I wanted to reflect that in the book.
We can have fun stories too without that being the drama or the sad element of the story.
I definitely gotBridget Jonesfrom the book, but it has a lot of darker aspects as well.
Why was it important for you to write a lesbian rom-com?My favorite writer is Nora Ephron.
If Im watching a comfort film, thats what I want to watch.
Why was it important for you to show the abuse between Sam and Julia?
But thats not true; not every lesbian is a hero.
Of course in every relationship, there is a difference in power between the couple.
I wanted to write about that and to give voice to something that I hadnt really seen represented.
Some of that inequality between Sam and Julia is that Sam is experienced, shes been out.
She knows what she wants and shes a controlling person.
Shes rejected heterosexuality, so shes very open-minded.
Its not that shes been forced into doing things at first, she doesnt know what she wants.
I wanted to show people and her friends who are happy being poly.
I did take care to bring in people who werent portrayed in a negative light.
Why was that important for you to do?It was just what happened when I started writing it.
I wanted to celebrate it.
Its pretty hard to find accurate representations of what women actually do.
I wanted to record it and represent it in a way that I hadnt seen before.
And a lot of it is funny.
I love Nora Ephron.
That honesty is shocking.
Then I realized that it was some of the most powerful writing.
What do you think happens with Julia next?
Would you write another book about her?I would love to.
Honestly, I really love writing in her voice.
I would do it in the future, but it depends.
Its been optioned for television, so Im working on an adaptation.
So my next book, Im looking at how people in their mid-30s are thinking about having children.
And its really interesting to my queer friends because its a lot more complicated.
So thats the story Im telling in my next book.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
