Amy Chan is a queer, twenty-something artist, broke and living one bad shift away from financial disaster. Edward Smith is affluent and white, his descent into a lonely middle age cushioned by generational wealth. This is the story of their relationship – one that is lopsided, transactional and arguably doomed from the start, but that shifts their worlds in unexpected ways.
Because, as Amy comes to understand, in Edward’s world love isn’t bigger than money – it just learns to speak its language.
People With Money is a darkly funny debut about the need for connection and the absurd negotiations that privilege smuggles into love.
Q&A
Congratulations on the publication of People With Money! What sort of observations have you made about people with money that led to this novel?
Thank you. I spent over a decade working in hospitality, and I spent every day of that career people-watching. Observing the way people wield their power, interact with service workers, and try to throw their weight around has always amused me. The power dynamics and the exchange of financial, cultural and social capital is a never-ending game. No one learns from anything and always thinks they’re the exception to the rule.
I really enjoyed getting the dual perspectives of Amy Chan and Edward Smith throughout the book. What made you decide to write from both perspectives rather than staying with just one?
As a storytelling device, it was to build tension. But I have always believed that everyone is both likeable and dislikeable. Perspective matters. I want people to realise that nothing is black and white. All people have the capacity for good and bad, and no matter how much you have, or what you’ve achieved, people operate from a place of insecurity.
As a psychologist, I have to ask about the couples therapy. Can you tell us a bit about the role therapy plays in the story?
The older I get, the more people I know go to therapy. It is socially acceptable. But I’ve also noticed that a lot of people don’t tell the truth in therapy, don’t put the work in and never change. They think the action of going is enough. Kind of like how I see people go to the gym and sit at one machine on their phone for an hour and leave. The role of it is just to reflect where Amy and Edward are in their lives and how they see themselves. It’s meant to show their cognitive dissonance between how they perceive themselves and the reality of who they are.
Although Amy and Edward are polar opposites in many ways, they both have family dysfunction in common. How does this impact the way they relate to each other?
As much as they’re opposites, I also like to think they’re mirrors to each other, which is why they ultimately connect. They’re both lonely, and they’re the wrong people for each other who happen to collide at the right time. Ultimately, their dysfunction forces them to confront their own preconceptions and pulls them out of their comfort zones. And, I guess, it makes them realise their comfort zones aren’t actually that comfortable; they’re just desensitised to them.
After I finished the book, I was left thinking about the lengths people may go to gain wealth. What conversations do you hope readers will have after they finish People with Money?
I want people to rethink their relationship and perceptions about money. And while money itself isn’t evil (the people in possession of it have the capacity to be), it isn’t a virtue either. I also think it is an important time right now to understand that it can, especially as a femme-presenting person in a relationship, give you freedom. Power dynamics in relationships have shifted, and you can even see in present-day data – there are more single people in the world than ever. If you can make enough of your own money, you don’t have to compromise yourself.
People With Money is out now through Simon & Schuster.
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