Vancouver author's new thriller tells of friendship forged amid fallout from pandemic

When a woman living in an old car parked in a ritzy seaside Seattle neighbourhood spots a wealthy society wife attempting to drown herself in the ocean, she runs to save her.

But rather than meeting Lee Gulliver with gratitude, the wealthy woman, Hazel, is angry with Lee for thwarting her attempt to escape her life.

The chance encounter sets the stage for Vancouver author Robyn Harding's latest novel, The Drowning Woman, which she wrote after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The novel, published early June this year, attempts to shed light on the issues that stemmed from or were exacerbated by the pandemic — including intimate partner violence, financial instability and homelessness, says Harding, while following the unlikely friendship between Lee and Hazel.

"We all probably have collective trauma from that. But you know, some people definitely suffered more than others," Harding told Margaret Gallagher on CBC's North by Northwest.

"We were all in the same storm, but we were in very different boats.

"And that really hit me because, you know, marginalized people and low income people in certain industries, and women across the board ... were more impacted."

Harding's previous work includes several international bestsellers, including The Party, a domestic drama about a wealthy San Francisco couple whose lives fall apart after their daughter's Sweet 16 sleep over party goes awry. It was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel.

Another one of her books, The Arrangement, is about a young woman who finds a sugar daddy, and the emotional tumult that follows.

Harding is also a screenwriter and executive producer of the 2015 film The Steps, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and focuses on similar themes.

"All my books are about a blah-blah-blah that goes horribly wrong," she said.

In her latest novel, the characater of Lee has lost everything in shady investments and the abrupt closure of her upscale New York restaurant during the pandemic.

Hazel, meanwhile, is a beautiful woman who lives in a mansion — but her abusive husband controls her every move, allowing her to leave the house only for beauty treatments and the gym.

"She has it all on the surface, but she's basically a prisoner," Harding said.

Then, one day, the wealthy society wife asks Lee to help her disappear.

"It all goes from there — who can you trust and what's really going on behind the scenes?"

Harding says she felt moved to build fictional characters going through these difficulties. The characters were, she says, "really changed by the experience and not for the better."