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Hayley Kiyoko has always been a fan of period pieces — so much so, they inspired her latest book.
Speaking with host Danielle Robay on the Nov. 4 episode of Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club podcast, in promotion of her new YA novel Where There’s Room for Us, the author and singer, 34, opened up about the book’s origins.
Set in a reimagined Victorian era, Where There’s Room for Us centers the growing relationship between poet Ivy and socialite Freya during courting season.
“My inspiration of fantasy went into Where There’s Room for Us because I’m obsessed with Pride and Prejudice,” Kiyoko said. “When I would watch that film, I thought I was like Mr. Darcy. Like, that was me.”
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“I would try to imagine myself in these situations. And I would always go, ‘Well, I wanna be there cause I’m Asian, I’m gay, I probably wanna be thriving … that’s why I ended up doing a queer, hyperreality version of it.”
Kiyoko also was influenced by the 1997 film version of Cinderella starring Brandy as the title princess and Paolo Montalban as Prince Christopher.
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“The prince was Asian, so for me, that was like the beginning of that,” Kiyoko said. “I also feel like Bridgerton has shown the world that people want to watch period pieces and support that. And those are kinda hard to get made. I just love Bridgerton, but I just always want it really gay.”
Kiyoko published her debut YA novel, Girls Like Girls, in 2023. The book was based on her song and music video of the same name, but the author wanted to go a different route for her sophomore release.
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“I think what makes [the Victoria era] sexy and hot is it’s a no-phone era,” she said. “You have to wait for months for a letter to arrive. There’s just something super romantic about that time … and not knowing what they’re thinking and not knowing what they’re up to.”
Kiyoko’s new spin on the era also puts forth a message that she wants to carry throughout all of her work.
“My main focus in life is to create hopeful queer content, whether it’s through music, whether it’s through novels or films,” Kiyoko explained. “Like, that is just my dying wish, is to make as much content as possible.”
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“This [novel] was kind of the first medium where I was like there are no parameters,” she continued. “I can do anything. Where do we want to take it? And so that’s been really exciting for me.”
Where There’s Room For Us is now available, wherever books are sold.
New episodes of Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club drop weekly.
