Despite the common belief that parents just want to do right by their kids, we don’t always see it pan out like that. There are some terrible parents out there, and the dynamic of a toxic family is not an uncommon sight in literature. So what’s going on? What drives these difficult relationships?

In Rebecca Wait’s new novel ‘I’m Sorry You Feel That Way’, she tackles these questions, following the lives of Celia - a pretty awful mother - her son Michael, and twin girls Alice and Hanna.

In this episode we learn how offering a backstory to the ‘villain’ of your story helps to create a more believable and well-rounded character, we reassess the notion that your character must ‘overcome’ their flaws as part of their journey of growth, and we delve into the subject of intergenerational trauma.

Find out more about Rebecca here.

Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.

Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production, and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up to the newsletter here.

You can view the full transcript here.