What is the title of your latest release?
THE ORIGINAL
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
THE ORIGINAL reimagines Katharine Hepburn’s early years - a grieving, fiercely independent young woman who arrives in Hollywood determined to control her own destiny. When a private crisis threatens her ascent, she refuses to be undone, determined to decide for herself who she will become.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Once I knew I was writing about Katharine Hepburn, I also knew it was going to be 1930s Hollywood. And because it was Hepburn, I also wanted to touch on her life on the East Coast. She is so woven into the fabric of the places she lived.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Huge yes. Both the real and my fictional Hepburn loved so many things I love. Water, friends, family, dogs, brownies and a good laugh.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Uncompromising, ambitious, forthright
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That I can plan out a novel, I can research and take notebooks full of notes, but the manuscript will still change in ways I cannot anticipate when it starts to take shape on the page. I did not guess that Los Angeles was going to narrate this novel.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I go even when I know I should leave it and move on.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Sea salt chocolate chip cookies from a place called Ovenly in Greenpoint Brooklyn or apple pie with ice cream.
Describe your writing space/office?
I broke my spine in a car accident a few years ago and so cannot sit at a desk for too long. Instead, I write at a lap desk on a bed surrounded by books and dogs. I have post-it notes on the walls reminding me about plot points and words I want to incorporate.
Who is an author you admire?
So many. In the 20th century, E.M. Forster, Jean Rhys, Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, AS Byatt, Rumer Godden are all huge favorites. More recent authors such as, Maggie O’Farrell, Christina Baker Kline, Lauren Groff, Emily St. John Mandel, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Lauren Groff, Jess Walter, Paula McLain, Pat Barker.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Again, so many. I could not read fluently until I was eight. I was more or less faking it. In the summer before third grade, Nancy Drew played a huge part in helping me to read well. She also taught me how to move a plot forward.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was driving and my phone rang. I had to pull over as I was about to go over a bridge where I would lose reception. I was at home in Hawaii and a wild rooster was cock-a-doodle-doo-ing and making a racket right outside the car. I remember my lovely agent went quiet and waited for him to finish yelling before she told me.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Literary fiction and sometimes speculative fiction. I am hugely interested in the “what if” questions that can set off fantastic novels.
What’s your favorite movie?
There are two, both old movies. Two for the Road and The Philadelphia Story. Both the Hepburns: Audrey and Katharine. I am sure I love them because of all the memory I have tangled up in watching them with my family.
What is your favorite season?
Summer. Definitely, summer.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Cozy at home with friends and family. This year a group of friends had planned to fly in and surprise me. I had no idea but they had to tell me when a blizzard grounded the flights. We celebrated on zoom instead and it was just as wonderful.
What’s a recent TV show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I loved Slow Horses. The pace, the humor, the writing, the messy humanity, the hard-won friendships, everything about it is smart.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I have been a vegetarian since I was nine. We were in Honolulu Airport, and I announced to my family that I was going to eat two hamburgers from Burger King and then never eat meat again.
What do you do when you have free time?
I spend time with my family, friends, and my four rescue dogs. In the summer, reading in a giant sun hat while standing in the pool or the sea while my stepchildren splash and get my book wet is about my very favorite thing to do.
What can readers expect from you next?
I am still figuring that out. I am in that delicious window-shopping period when I dip in and out of research, spending time in different eras and stories and everything feels possible.
This stunning novel plunges into the tumultuous life of screen icon Katharine Hepburn, a star whose fierce independence, passionate spirit, and fluid sexuality shattered Hollywood’s rules and redefined what it meant to be a woman in film.
When young Katharine Hepburn loses her beloved brother, she makes two decisions: she will become famous, and she will never let anyone hurt her again. Leaving home at twenty-one to pursue an acting career Kate is lured to Hollywood, accompanied by her lover, Laura.
Los Angeles in the early 1930s is a town full of secrets and Kate has plenty to hide. Soon she is scooped into the studio system and launched as a star—but stars must play by the rules and Kate, brilliant, bisexual, and strong-willed, refuses to conform.
Surrounded by a legendary circle of intimates, including the powerful David and Irene Selznick, charming and romantically conflicted actor Cary Grant, ambitious director John Ford, and millionaire tycoon Howard Hughes, Kate navigates a web of sex, ambition, and betrayal. As her career ascends, she faces an agonizing choice: be the star everyone wants her to be, or risk everything to become the woman she always was.
The author of New York Times Notable Book Vanessa and Her Sister has created a propulsive, emotionally charged novel exploring the cost of fame. With sharp prose and unforgettable characters, The Original is a story of love, aspiration, and the price of living authentically.
Women's Fiction Historical [ Ballantine Books, On Sale: April 28, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593984130 / ]
Priya Parmar is the author of the novel, Vanessa and Her Sister (a New York Times Notable Book), as well as co-author of the musical, Sylvia (London Old Vic), which was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Original Musical.
Her forthcoming book, THE ORIGINAL, a novel about Katharine Hepburn’s early life and career, will be published by Penguin Random House (Ballantine) on April 28th, 2026.
Priya believes in rescuing animals, veganism, protecting the ocean, and words. She splits her time between Hawaii and Connecticut with her family and her four rescue dogs.
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