Character Interview from Romantic Comedy 100 Dates and a Wedding by Stephanie Tumba

I really enjoyed reading last week’s character interview that I decided to publish another one. Today’s character interview is from the romantic comedy 100 Dates and a Wedding by Stephanie Tumba. It was published by Sté Tumba Capital on February 2018 and the French version the 22nd June 2019. It is available as a Kindle ebook (ASIN: B07HHC9YRC) and a paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1981435982). It is available in stores in French and English at Barnes & Noble, Fnac, Libraries de Paris, Grangier, Dedicaces.

 

About 100 Dates and a Wedding by Stephanie Tumba

100 Dates and a Wedding by Stephanie Tumba is a romantic comedy that narrates Valérie’s dating experiences in London and shares the lessons she learnt from them. She recounts the worst of her dating experiences London offered and the lessons she learnt from them. Her disillusionments, her joys, and her own ambiguities are shared without concession. 100 Dates & a Wedding is a romantic Frenglish (mix of French and English) journal which will make your heart laugh out loud; it is filled with raw emotions and evinces the garbage culture in which we live today. Beware! 100 Dates and a Wedding doesn’t bash on men, it spreads an inspirational message through Valerie’s dates: you definitely need to kiss a few frogs before getting to the right one.

Who is this character interview about and why did you choose to interview them?

Valérie is the main character of 100 Dates and a Wedding, she’s French, a young divorcee of 30 and comes from a very traditional family because of her African origins. She has been in South Kensington for 3 years and has divorced the morning of the first chapter. Valerie smokes, likes brands, has a French accent, always on heels, very cultured she is also very intelligent and understands human nature. She likes to travel, to eat, wine, dine out, dancing, and love sweets, Personality wise, She is passionate, witty, talkative (all the time an experience/story to tell), dramatic, impatient, spontaneous, and endearing. All through the book, she wonders: How do you deal with a break up after a long relationship? How to believe in love again after being defeated? How many dates does it get to find the “One”? 100? How many shags? Valérie won’t tell. How many mistakes made? Certainly plenty. Should you play the Game? Valérie never understood the rules. So how do you meet the right one then? After a few slaps on the face. Between the English’s rules of dating, the expected texts, the expected loves, the misinterpreted messages, the words over-interpreted, and the language barrier Valérie experienced the misunderstanding of love in all its splendour and the cultural clash at its worst.

 

The Interview

INTERVIEWER: Valérie , Why did you divorce your husband?

Valérie: Pierre, my ex-husband, lied to me. He put himself into debt behind my back to pay the bills hiding the fact that he lost his job. I felt betrayed and I could not trust him anymore. It was over.

INTERVIEWER: Did you sleep with these 100 dates? And are these dates all real?

Valérie: I did not sleep with 100 men and 90% of the dates are real, some have been romanticised and some have been borrowed from friends.

INTERVIEWER: How long did it take to you to get into a serious relationship after her divorce?

Valérie: Well, I got straight away into a serious relationship with Adrian which lasted 6 months. But, I was not ready.

INTERVIEWER: How did you break up with Sonny?

Valérie: I broke up with him at his place. I came low key and I told him I was not staying, I gave his ring back and told him that I was still in love with Cassius.

INTERVIEWER: And how did he react?

Valérie: He was the amazing gentleman he has always been, he nodded, smiled, and simply let me go.

INTERVIEWER: Why did you pick Cassius and not Sonny?

Valérie: I suppose a part of me, at the time, was more in search of a “father figure” rather than a “partner in crime” and this is what Cassius represents to me until today.

INTERVIEWER: Are you still with Cassius and do you regret Sonny?

Valérie: As we speak, I am still with Cassius and I do miss Sonny’s friendship but I do not regret my decision.

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Phewww that wasn’t disappointing. If you enjoyed reading this Character Interview from Romantic Comedy 100 Dates and a Wedding by Stephanie Tumba, please consider supporting the author by buying your own copy of the book via your favourite book retailer or using my Amazon affiliate links below.