Q&A with Sophie Quick - author of The Confidence Woman

Find out which famous book sparked the idea for Sophie Quick to delve into the world of scammers in our Q&A with The Confidence Woman author.

A&U: Could you tell us a little about your debut novel, The Confidence Woman?

SQ: The Confidence Woman is a novel about a single mother/internet fraudster. The protagonist, Christina Swales, is posing online as ‘executive coach and mindset expert’ Dr Ruth Carlisle. She’s scamming her clients and saving up for a home deposit. The background of the story is Australia’s housing crisis, but it’s all about blurred online identities and striving for success (or just security!) in a rigged system.

A&U: How did the idea for The Confidence Woman originate?

SQ: My grandparents had How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie at their house and I skim-read it (or tried to) on a day of extreme boredom in the school holidays when I was 12 or 13. The protagonist in The Confidence Woman, Christina, reads the book under similar circumstances.

How to Win Friends is quite a slimy book. The central themes are 1) flattery will get you everywhere 2) people love talking about themselves and 3) most people are very self-interested.

I don’t totally share this cynical worldview, but I do think Carnegie was right that most people are vulnerable to a degree of flattery and self-indulgence – some of us more than others.

And I think that this phenomenon explains, to some degree, the explosion of the unregulated coaching industry – especially the more dodgy end of it.

Some people will pay good money for the pleasure of talking endlessly about themselves, and how to improve themselves. (Not all coaches are grifters, of course!)

A&U: Christina says that she never meant to hurt anyone – she just wants a better life for herself and her son. Do you think her actions are defensible– or are all scammers as bad as each other?

SQ: There’s definitely a scale of scamming!

I wanted The Confidence Woman to be both funny and morally confusing. I hope I managed to achieve those things. The housing crisis, and our collective failure to do anything about it, is a breach of the social contract. Should people locked out of secure housing be expected to behave themselves? I think it’s a good question.

I hope that readers might find themselves cheering Christina on, even as she’s up to no good.

Having said that, Christina is the narrator of her own story. Maybe the reader should be a little bit suss on her justifications for her own behaviour.

A&U: The Confidence Woman skewers our obsession with self-improvement – what do you think that looks like in Australia today?

SQ: We live in quite a competitive, individualistic culture and I think it’s a huge bummer. We could be doing so many fun or worthwhile things. Instead we’re reading books about habit-formation and saving up for cosmetic dentistry. Plus, there’s a very real scarcity in the housing market and that leads to a lot of grim striving, too. Why did we organise ourselves like this? I think the wellness and coaching industries – both self-improvement focused – are a reflection of this culture.

But I have mixed feelings about this stuff. If there’s anyone who needs a coach, it’s me. I’m undisciplined, neurotic and incapable of thinking strategically about my life.

A&U: If you were a life coach – what would be your best piece of advice?

SQ: If I were a life coach, I would advise prospective clients to book in NOW for my 12-week transformation package because it’s selling out FAST.

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The Confidence Woman

by Sophie Quick

A fresh and darkly funny debut novel about blurred online identities and striving for success (or just security) in a rigged system. Perfect for anyone who's ever enjoyed a good scammer story.

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