Eliza Clark on Penance
We talk true crime, teenagers and the day that Tumblr collapsed in on itself
The proof copy of Eliza Clark’s second book, Penance is littered with questions. ‘Did you see it on the internet? Did you listen to a podcast? Did the hosts make jokes? Did you see the pictures of the body? Did you look for them?’
“There was one podcast I listened to that really struck me. It was about the Hart family. This left-wing couple that had adopted their children, they leveraged their son for all of these photos on picket lines. They were both really active on social media and then they drove their family off a cliff. And I was just listening to this incredibly grim case and then ‘This podcast is sponsored by electric toothbrushes’.”
Eliza Clark’s debut title, Boy Parts, developed a sort of cult following. Seeing acclaim from literary critics and teens on BookTok alike, there are few readers that haven’t delved into the strange world of Irina. Exploring themes of gender and classism, Boy Parts had readers wincing in horror and howling with laughter on the same page, lending Clark to be recognised as one of Granta’s Future Stars.
But, her latest book, Penance, feels different.
Following the murder of a teenage girl, a journalist, Alec. Z. Carelli, tries to piece together what happened in a sleepy, post-Brexit town. The story is littered with interviews, true-crime podcast scripts, internet chatrooms and first-person perspectives. But, more than anything, this is a story of empathy. Of what it’s like to be a teenage girl in a world that objectively hates teenage girls.
“It kind of sucked being in that teenage headspace,” Clark explains as we discuss her writing process. “It's such a strange mix of your own feelings. That loneliness, frustration and rejection. That and there’s so much casual cruelty and as a teenage girl, you both receive it and dish it out. But, I ruminate on things a lot, so while this isn’t all my experience, some of it is pulled from things that happened to me.”
That and there’s so much casual cruelty and as a teenage girl, you both receive it and dish it out
Penance also deftly explores our relationship with true crime. “I really wanted the book to have a dialogue on true crime. But, it was originally more neutral. As the drafts went on, my feelings really started to shift and I added; more and more into the story. I think we’ve split some of these podcasts into good and bad true-crime creators, if they make the right noises in the right places.”
Clark does, however, champion a different approach to true-crime reporting. “So, I read People Who Eat Darkness - a book that explores the murder of Lucie Blackman - by Richard Lloyd Parry. He spent two years with the family and just the way he talks about Lucie feels different. There’s a drive-by approach with podcasts. They’re not spending time trying to understand the family, they take these very real and complicated lives and boil them down into an hour. It just feels - icky.”
Despite having a clear stance on our relationship with true crime, there’s one area that Penance is sympathetic towards: that of internet culture. “Some of the forum stuff was just Tumblr osmosis from my experiences. I wish I’d looked into it a bit more actually. But, when I was a teenager, I’d get myself into these rabbit holes of looking through profiles. There were these big apocalyptic days on Tumblr and I kept thinking about those as well.”
At this point, I mention The JohnLock Conspiracy - a day that Tumblr collapsed in on itself. “Yeah. I also read Savage Appetites by Rachel Monroe which covered this girl called Lindsay Souvannarath, a lonely teenage girl who idolised the Columbine shooters and, along with her online boyfriend, planned a copycat killing at a mall. This idea of a Tumblr girl massacre for people who lived on that edge lord side of true crime just really interested me.”
I wanted her to have this longing to feel normal. And she was willing to do anything to make that happen.
Like all stories, I wonder how much of Clark exists in her protagonists, Joan and Violet. “I really wanted them to be younger than me and that’s how setting it around the Brexit vote came about. It was just a really clear point in time for a lot of these places that rely on domestic tourism. I think I’m a mix of Joan and Violet. They best mirror my own school experiences, but I really wanted this sense that Joan was a complete person. She was someone’s child. She was funny and irritating, she could be obnoxious and disloyal, but she was layered. I think I pulled threads from my experience, but mostly, I wanted her to have this longing to feel normal. And she was willing to do anything to make that happen. I think every teenager can relate to that.”
You can (and should) pre-order Penance right here.
After reading Penance, I was desperate for something to fill the void and discovered Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater. With characters that you’ll love to hate and a scathing look at what it means to be ‘obsessed with true crime’, it’s easily slipped into my top ten 2023 reads.
I’m also in the final throes of wedding planning and despite all hopes that I would be a ‘chill bride’, I’ve found it’s all that I can think about, I’ve rewritten my speech for the 200% time, ordered an alarming amount of confetti and started dreaming about table plans, but with a month to go, I think I’m finally on top of everything.
Lastly, I wanted to share this gem of a store. Komorebi, they make these incredible lamp shades.
I bought one of these when we first moved into our new house and I’m obsessed. You can choose the colour combo of the thread to make your shade and honestly, I think stripes should be in every home.