Vicki Notaro on the complexity of female friendship and her Long Story

Even on a Thursday, Vicki Notaro is glam. With cascading brown hair, flawless skin and her signature winged liner, she’s picture-perfect ready. I, on the other hand, meet her in my gym gear, with my raw, unfiltered mug on show. I tell her she looks fabulous and apologise for my haggard state. She tells me that I “look like a child.” This delights me as someone who is now in her thirties and trying to find a suitable date for my next Botox top-up appointment. Immediately, I know I’ll enjoy the conversation, and my self-consciousness about my au naturel state dissipates. I feel buoyant with my apparent youthfulness. 

A former magazine editor and host of the podcast You Had Me At Hello, Notaro is a journalist turned author, with her debut novel Reality Check becoming an instant bestseller upon its release last year. I’m meeting her to chat about her sophomore creation, Long Story – a pacy, heart-filled tale of fame, friendship and forgotten love.

It follows Tara, a beloved rom-com star whose life unravels when her husband leaves her for a younger co-star, and Alex, a celebrity podcaster with a chaotic love life and lingering ghosts from the past. Once inseparable childhood friends, their bond is tested when a rockstar’s explosive memoir exposes secrets that could change everything. Set between Ireland and the US, Long Story explores the glittery highs and emotional lows of life not only in the spotlight but also for those behind the scenes, too. 

Like Notaro, Long Story is funny, warm and glamorous, there is real heart behind the gloss. Despite being an ideal escapist read, the novel also explores heartrending themes, such as relationship breakdowns and grief. However, the book truly shines when it puts the complexity of female friendship front and centre. For anyone who’s been through the trials and tribulations of these relationships, there’s a particular scene that will send shivers down your spine. It’s as if every secret thought you’ve ever had about a friend has been laid bare for the world to see. Even for Notaro, this was an emotional scene to pen.

“I had to have a lie down after I wrote that,” she recalls. “In those situations, once you have said it, you can’t unsay it. You can’t put the cat back in the bag. I think anyone who has ever had a row with a female friend will understand that feeling because it’s so different to arguing with a guy. With your partner, for instance, you have sex or romance or a shared goal to bring you back together. It can be harder to salvage the situation with the women in your life.”

Capturing an honest portrayal of genuine female companionship was important to Notaro, especially for those who grew up with idealised notions of friendship. “It’s complex,” she explains. “You meet people at different seasons and stages of your life. I grew up in the era of Sex and the City, where you were led to believe your friends would be everything – that you’d always be together. There’s this idea that it will always be easy. You meet in school, grow up together, be each other’s bridesmaids and live happily ever after. But sometimes, it’s really difficult. In my experience, friendship struggles can be just as tough as romantic relationship problems. I don’t think it’s a given that female friendships last forever, and that’s okay.”

Outside of friendship woes, both main characters are grappling with their own internal struggles, a deliberate choice in their characterisation. While both women appear successful on the surface, the story reminds us of a truth that becomes clearer with age: appearances can be deceiving, and we rarely know what’s really going on beneath the surface.

“To anyone else, these women are on top of the world,” she explains. “Tara more obviously, but Alex too, in a quieter, more understated way. Yet beneath it all, there’s personal chaos. And I love that it’s a man from their past who ends up driving a wedge between them. Because of course it is, right? It’s true what they say – the first cut really is the deepest.”

The man in question is rockstar Sean Sweeney, a former stage school classmate of both women. With a wave of Irish men currently dominating thirst-trap TikTok, finding inspiration for his character was the easy part. “Well, firstly, he’s not based on Paul Mescal,” Vicki laughs. “But I did think about what it must be like for the girl who was his Debs date. How must it feel to sit back now, watching his rise to fame, and remember the night he showed up at your house with a corsage? That definitely influenced some of the storytelling. But Sean is a bit of an early days Colin Farrell type – charming, a little wild. There’s some Harry Styles in there too for good measure.”

With Long Story as her second novel, Notaro admits to feeling nervous, perhaps surprisingly so, given the success of her debut. “The impostor syndrome is still very much present,” she muses. “That doesn’t go away. You worry that you won’t be able to replicate your success, you know? Like, when your first is a bestseller, you want your second to be one too. Obviously, it’s not all about numbers, but it’s vital if you want to be a commercial author.”

The fear may linger, but so too does a growing confidence in her voice and in her ability to tell the kind of stories readers can’t put down. “The process of writing the book was brilliant,” she says. “It flew out of me. I’ve learned so much since writing the first book and even more throughout the process of this one. Each time I feel like I’m challenging myself. I want my characters to be more complex, for the story to have even more layers. It keeps things interesting for me and the readers.”

Women’s fiction is often labelled as ‘easy reading’, and while that may be true in terms of accessibility, it can also do a disservice to the depth and seriousness of the issues these books tackle. There’s also the fact that these kinds of books drive sales because, often, readers are looking for something that can lift them out of the real world, take them somewhere else, and let them have a bit of fun along the way.

 

“That’s what I like to read,” Notaro says. “I like relatable stuff, but I also want a touch of the aspirational. I studied English Literature, I love all kinds of books, including the heavy stuff, but that’s not necessarily what I want to read all the time. I think women’s fiction is becoming more and more respected, and it’s being taken seriously. Look at the likes of Marian Keyes and Cathy Kelly, who are inspirations to me, they are powerhouses with stellar careers in the genre.”

With her third book already completed, there’s little doubt that Notaro is on track to follow in the footsteps of her literary heroes. For now, though, she’s taking it day by day and enjoying the ride.

“This is my dream,” she explains. “I’m in the best place I’ve ever been. I’ll be 40 soon, and I’m just pinching myself that this is my life. Honestly, I’m starting to annoy myself, but I’ll keep going and making the most of it.”

I’m sure she will, and she’ll look as glam as ever doing it.

Long Story by Vicki Notaro is on sale now.