BEA SETTON
“Everyone is fascinating if you ask them the right questions”
Words
ALICE HART
Photography
BEN NASON
In an interview last year, around the UK publication of her thrillingly original debut novel, Berlin, Bea Setton described herself not as a writer, but as someone who writes. The statement speaks to her humility and the fact she doesn’t take anything for granted, in spite of the rapturous reviews her book has received, both here and across the pond.
Born in France, Bea spent her formative years in the suburbs of Paris. She studied Philosophy in the US before relocating to Berlin, the city she so brilliantly evokes in her work, and from where she speaks to us now.
It’s 11am and, she tells us, already 30 degrees in the city. The apartment behind her is flooded with golden light, and striking red-and-white wallpaper depicts various bucolic activities. An old-school wooden ceiling fan whirs above her ahead.
HUSH
So, you’re back in Berlin! Tell us a bit about where you are in the city. What’s the area like?
BEA
I’m in Kreuzberg. It’s a very ‘trendy’ area and I’m not trendy enough to be in it. Everyone wears black clothes and futuristic sunglasses, and it makes me want to sport flowery dresses and wooden clogs. But I’m wearing black. Because I am a conformist at heart.
HUSH
Ha! Well, black suits you. And your apartment looks beautiful.
BEA
It isn’t actually my flat! I’m staying with my friend, the brilliant pianist Julia Kadel. Their piano is here, and they rehearse every day. I’m so lucky I get to hear their music. It’s so beautiful. It moves me and it makes me reach for that kind of beauty in my writing. We talk about creativity and inspiration and shout at each other to get back to work when we’re slacking. It’s lovely.
HUSH
It sounds like a wonderful setup. So, what are you working on at the moment? What’s next for you?
BEA
I’ve just finished my second novel. I’m plotting the third and am currently quite torn between two ideas.
HUSH
Ooh, can you tell us any more? We loved how Berlin combined coming-of-age confessional with psychological thriller vibes. Does the new book occupy a similar space?
BEA
This one is more of a thriller, I think. It’s ‘literary’ which means that it’s not about police-work or a serial killer (or…is it?). It’s about the perils of curiosity. Like Berlin, the novel exists at the intersection of several genres. It’s a love story, a coming-of-age drama, and a ‘morality tale’. It charts a person’s moral corruption.
HUSH
It sounds brilliant. You were published in the US earlier this summer – how does that feel?
|  Bea's debut novel, Berlin |
BEA
It was amazing to be published there and to meet a US readership. North Americans are so generous and superlative, and I crave that kind of emphatic enthusiasm. It motivates me to keep writing.
HUSH
What else keeps you going – is that a coffee you’re nursing? What’s for breakfast ahead of a day of writing?
BEA
For breakfast I eat the sweetest thing I can while still remaining within the bounds of respectability. It’s not socially acceptable to eat actual chocolate or baklava for breakfast which is what I want in my heart of hearts. So, I will usually settle for dates or bread dipped in a mixture of honey and tahini. So delicious.
HUSH
Yum! So, from the gorgeous piece you wrote for us, it’s clear the urban domain is where you’re most comfortable. Can you talk a bit more about that? And do you really mean it about the countryside and nature? Never fancy a long muddy walk and a pub lunch?!
BEA
I really don’t like pubs. Overpriced beer? Pork Scratchings? Big TVs showing (the men’s) football?
I do like Nature, but I don’t necessarily want to be involved with it. I let it get on with its own thing without interference. I think Nature likes it better when we don’t get too up close and personal with its business.
HUSH
That’s fair enough. Wait, is that a harmonica we can hear in the background?
BEA
Yes. My neighbor is a musician and he’s recording a song on the harmonica. For about ten minutes it was fun. Lonesome cowboy vibes. I thought it might help me write like Cormac McCarthy. But now it’s getting a bit out of control. I’m writing more like a deranged saloon-dwelling cowboy than anything else.
HUSH
You are literally surrounded by creatives. You’ve lived all over the world and you must have met so many fascinating and unusual characters to inspire your fictional ones.
BEA
I think pretty much everyone is fascinating if you ask them the right questions. I’m curious about the lives of others and I’m generally very engaged with people in any environment. I talk to strangers all the time – on trains, in shops, on the street – and these are some of my most useful conversations because people often find it easier to open their heart to someone they will never see again. And then I use all their confidences in my novels!
HUSH
Said like a true writer! You must have a lot of friends in Berlin by now too. Do they distract you with fun plans and raucous parties? For us, moments of Hush are spent finding joy doing what we love with the people we love. What does that look like for you?
BEA
I don’t really go to raucous parties too often. Like I said, I’m not very cool in that sense. Techno-boys sweating and grinding their teeth in clubs is not really my thing. Mostly, when I need a break, I meet my best friend outside our favourite corner shop, or ‘Späti’ as they’re called in Germany. We sit there and drink tea and insult each other and talk complete nonsense. That’s joyful for me. It’s what nurtures me the most.
HUSH
And on a night in, what are you up to? We’ve heard you’re a big reader, and a devourer of films. What’s riveting you at the moment?
BEA
I’ve mainly been watching the Football World Cup. Wendy Renard, Megan Rapinoe, Sam Kerr… these women are legends. I admire them more than anyone. I also just read American Prometheus, the Oppenheimer biography, which is a million times better than the movie. Biographies are useful when it comes to crafting characters. They lead you into the mind of their subjects in a way I aspire to do with my protagonists in fiction.
Read Bea's microfiction piece, Right Here.
Her debut novel Berlin is out now.