American Devora Rogers on Writing her Novel, The Spanish Painter
May 11, 2020
“When I was 16, I learned my mother had been lying to me all my life. It was a big and terrible lie, as lies between mothers and daughters often are.” These are the first words of Devora’s novel, The Spanish Painter, published in 2017.
In our interview with Devora, she talks about the story behind the novel. How it took her thirteen years to finish The Spanish Painter, how she met a German man in France and followed him all the way to Spain, landing in a small town called Cuenca. Little did she know back then that the experiences she would encounter there would have nothing to do with the man who had captivated her. Instead, she would meet Flores, the woman who inspired one of the main characters in her novel.
“There was a story to be told, I just didn’t know how to do it!” (Devora, 03:45)
Devora’s friendship with Flores continues to this day. Devora still remembers her cooking, her devotion to keeping her house spotless, her pristine white apron, her perfect silver bun. Flores created a home for Devora that she had never experienced before, and told her stories about her love affair with a Spanish painter under Franco’s dictatorship.
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Devora Rogers is a writer and consumer researcher. She is co-author of Fire in the Zoo and author of The Spanish Painter. Devora is a regular public speaker and her TedX talk on the Future of Shopping and Retail has been viewed over 235,000 times. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter and ornery cat.
