“Lucky Night” by Eliza Kennedy
The narrative: about Lucky Night
For six years, Nick and Jenny’s affair has been casual, purely physical and only about a quick moment here and there. Now, for the first time, they’ve booked a hotel room for one night at a new hotel in Manhattan. They’re hoping for a sexy, romantic escape… but the night takes a turn when a smoke alarm goes off, and the two are told to shelter in place. Now, Nick and Jenny are forced to confront their affair and their secrets, how little they really know each other, and everything they might lose.
The nightcap
Perfectly on theme, we recommend sipping a Smoked Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned with this one. As Eliza says, “the whiskey or bourbon because it’s a little bit stressful, and you need to take the edge off.” And the maple syrup “for the combination of like sweetness and sort of bitter conflict that the book is full of.”
In the episode
Eliza talks about the spark for this story and then the real-life couple who contributed to the inspiration. Plus, she tells us:
The 10ish years it took to bring the story to life, continuously being drawn back to it
Her writing process, knowing immediately that she wanted it to be a fixed time period and fixed place
Finding her characters’ voices, especially when they’re flawed and messy
Listen to the full author conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts
Add Lucky Night to your Amazon cart (Narratives & Nightcaps is an Amazon Affiliate)
More on Eliza Kennedy from Penguin Random House!