The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs Brings Her Debut Novel to the Book Fair

When Susanna Hoffs centers her debut novel The Bird Has Flown around a thirty-something musician trying to find her way after being a one-hit wonder a decade earlier, you can't help but look for parallels between the protagonist, Jane Start, and the author.

The writer had a lot more than one hit when she sang and played guitar for the pop-rock group the Bangles, but there are so many other dots to connect. Start's first hit was a cover by the enigmatic control freak Jonesy, while the Bangles' first hit, "Manic Monday," was a cover of a Prince song. Both Hoffs and Start grew up in California and found massive success in their twenties, only to fade from the zeitgeist in their thirties.

Hoffs figured there would be many people confusing Start for her when she started writing the book. "I was inclined to write about a performer. At first, I thought it would be about an actress," she tells New Times via Zoom, "but I wanted to capture why music matters so much to me. I thought it would be interesting to pull back the curtain while adding a little bit of gothic romance to it."

Hoffs describes herself as a lifelong reader who always had her nose in a book. She always wanted to write a novel, but while attending college, she studied art and dance instead. Then, music drew her in. "I saw Patti Smith. I attended the last ever Sex Pistols show. That led me to want to start a band," she says.

The band she started in 1981 became the Bangles and was one of the biggest bands of the '80s. They had top ten hits you still hear all the time, like "Eternal Flame," "In Your Room," and the biggest song of 1987, "Walk Like an Egyptian," a new wave novelty song that never grows old, no matter how many tens of thousands of times you hear it.

"It was such an unusual song," she reminisces. "I remember sitting with our producer David Kahne; he played me a version by Marti Jones. I was smitten by the bossa nova vibe; it was so quirky and melodic. And our video was so cool. We did a show for radio contest winners and filmed the video during the set. We lip-synched for that song to match the record. I had no idea they were zooming into my face. When I saw the video, I was shocked."     As confident as she looks in the video, Hoffs says, just like her creation Jane Start, she suffered from crippling stage fright. "I remember standing on the stage and hoping to find my voice." In the book, she aimed to capture how "you go from the ordinary humdrum aspects of life to transforming into another character and persona and creating a sound."

One key difference between The Bird Has Flown and reality is that while Jane finds herself constantly on social media and gossip sites as she makes her comeback, Hoffs survived controversy with one minor exception. "The Bangles were in Hawaii with Crowded House in 1987. It was the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe there. It was a wild night — lots of celebration. The Bangles were sitting at a table with Rob Lowe, and we were all pleasantly sloshed. And that picture found itself in the tabloids."

Hoffs will discuss more of her rock-star days and her current writer life at the Miami Book Fair on Saturday, November 18. "I'll bring my guitar, and I'm happy to play some music," she says. Though she warns, it will be Susanna Hoffs singing, not the character Jane Start. She also says she is working on creating some original music for Jane Start. "Now that I know there's a film adaptation of the book, I need to compose two of her songs. It's an assignment and a challenge." 
   
From the Bangles to Bungled Love: A Reading and Performance With Susanna Hoffs. 6 p.m. Saturday, November 18, at the Chapman Conference Center at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., Building 3, Second Floor, Room 3210, Miami; miamibookfair.com. Street fair tickets cost $5 to $10; children 12 and under are free.