Meredith Hambrock is a fiction and television writer. Her debut novel Other People’s Secrets was called “audacious” and “fabulous” by the New York Times. She has been a finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize and worked extensively in television, most recently in the writers’ room for the Canadian Screen Award-winning sitcom Corner Gas Animated.
Meredith has just released her newest audiobook, She’s a Lamb —a darkly comic suspense in the vein of All’s Well and Yellowface.
She’s a Lamb! is an edgy and incisive novel that marches toward showtime with a growing unease about the dangers of magical thinking and the depths of delusion.
Jessamyn is a delusional childminder for the kid actors in a regional theater’s production of The Sound of Music — and is determined to get herself the lead role of Maria by any means necessary.
We sat down with Meredith to discuss unhinged female characters, the depths of delusion, and audiobooks.
Keep reading to learn more about her and this exciting new release!
Q: Jessamyn’s journey involves grappling with the dangers of magical thinking and the depths of delusion. How did you approach writing a deluded female character who quests for stardom, and what challenges did you face in this psychological portrayal?
Writing a delusional main character was certainly challenging, especially since I wrote this book in first person point of view, in present tense. I really wanted to explore the inner psychology of delusion, in particular, how it functions in real time. This was particularly challenging though, because the reader is so deeply rooted in Jessamyn’s point of view that her version of events seemed entirely true to the reader. We aren’t in anyone else’s perspective, ever. It took many drafts and lots of feedback from my agent and my editor before I think we found ways to signal to the reader that Jessamyn’s version of events didn’t always add up.
Q: SHE’S A LAMB is a darkly funny satire about the grotesque pall patriarchy casts over one woman’s delusional quest to achieve her dreams and the depths she will sink to for a chance at the life she’s convinced she deserves. How did you balance the heavy topics of delusion and patriarchy with the humor and irony needed to criticize and expose these deep-rooted issues?
I find humour to be a deeply humanizing characteristic. It is a rare person, I think, who doesn’t like to crack a joke or laugh. I also find a lot of sexism and misogyny deeply absurd. Having Jessamyn point out the absurdity helped make this book more human.
Q: Even though Jessamyn is a deluded and amoral character, you can’t help but root for her while she is presented time and time again as a wholly unlikable person. How did you juggle her unlikable personality and actions while also wanting to portray her as someone the reader would want to root for in her quest to fulfill her dream in musical theater?
I think first, by making her funny. By doing this, I hoped to give the reader a reason to want to connect with her. She’s a funny person who speaks her mind. While she is violent and awful, the book is in many ways an exploration of how she got to this place, a study of ambition and delusion and that adds layers, which are also humanizing.
Q: Jessamyn is a character that is somehow both exaggerated and relatable at the same time – like a lot of actors found in the musical theatre world. Does this deluded and unhinged narrator come from personal experience within that chaotically performative space?
Oh gosh, I’ll say 99.99% of actors I’ve come across are lovely, grounded, interesting, curious people. But I do think show business is an interesting business, in that it’s a place where people want the job so badly they’re willing to betray themselves, their own sense of ethics, to get it. But that in itself is a dehumanizing act. That truth is really amplified in this book. Maybe too much, but that’s theatre, baby!
Q: Characters like Jessamyn have recently taken Hollywood by storm with movies like the X film series, which includes X (2022), Pearl (2022), and MaXXXine (2024). They’ve also made other appearances in literature like June Hayward in Yellowface and in the classic musical, Gypsy, with the character Rose. What do you think makes characters like these so popular and prevalent?
I think people have always connected with, and will continue to connect with, people who have big dreams. I don’t think that’s ever going away. The rise of social media has definitely had an impact on how we understand the pursuit of dreams. People are letting us in, on many different levels, to the pursuit of their dreams, their becoming. Dreams feel closer and more attainable now than ever before. So it’s natural we’d gravitate toward these stories, I think.
Q: Stephanie Willing narrates the audiobook version of your novel. How do you feel her narration enhances the storytelling experience, particularly in capturing Jessamyn’s voice and the haze of her delusions of grandeur?
Stephanie really took the time to understand Jessamyn’s character on every single level and then she went for It. Like all truly great performers, she fully committed. Her performance at the climax of the novel is truly incredible.
SHE’S A LAMB is available NOW everywhere you listen to audiobooks
Follow the retailer links below to add to your TBR today!
Audible • Spotify • Libro.FM • Audiobooks.com • B&N
