With ‘Tijd om te bloeien‘ (‘Time to Bloom‘), Nikita aims to show that women’s lives are already complete without a relationship or a man. Friendship between women from diverse backgrounds therefore plays a central role in her newest novel.
Nikita Goossens from Halle in Flemish Brabant made her debut in 2021 with her coming-of-age novel ‘Op zoek‘ (‘Searching‘). She now works as a journalist and copy editor, but the urge to write creatively never left her.
“I wrote my first book mainly as a teenager. ‘Op zoek’ therefore automatically reflected that period as well. In my new book, ‘Tijd om te bloeien’, many of the insights I gained in my twenties are included. Such as the fact that there is so much freedom in breaking away from the traditional picture and from what is expected of you as a woman in our society.”
This results in a book with three very diverse main characters in terms of background, skin colour, sexuality, job, and so on. What the women do have in common is their independent spirit.
“In real life these women would probably live in very separate bubbles, without any chance of meeting each other. But in my book fate brings them together because they all start a new adventure in Washington, D.C. for their own reasons, where they become housemates.”
Inspiration from her own experience in America
It is no surprise that the setting of ‘Time to Bloom’ is Washington, D.C. The writer spent a trimester there in 2022 for her internship. “I really grew to love D.C. as a city, which is why I also wanted to use this setting for my story. Almost all the places that appear in my book actually exist. The same goes for the Cherry Blossom Festival, which forms an important thread throughout the story.”
The Cherry Blossom Festival is a real life event, which this year runs from 20 March to 12 April.
“The title ‘Time to Bloom’ therefore literally refers to the blooming period of the cherry blossoms, but also figuratively to an inner blossoming as my main characters become more confident and believe in themselves more.”
For Nikita as well, Washington, D.C. was an experience that allowed her to bloom figuratively, but the book is not autobiographical. “Of course there are some elements in it that are relatively true to life, such as all the feelings that come with suddenly leading a different life abroad, so far away from home. Those feelings are real, which I think helps the reader immerse themselves in the story more easily. But the storylines themselves are fiction.”
New perspectives
In the book we first follow the Belgian Lauren, who explores aromanticism and asexuality. “Everyone knows the feeling: in our society you are strongly pushed towards a (hetero) relationship and people always have something to say if you are single. Lauren therefore also tries to squeeze herself into that traditional picture, until she learns about orientations she previously knew little about”, Nikita explains.
Being aromantic and/or asexual means that someone feels little to no romantic and/or sexual attraction to others. “It is thanks to her housemate Mai that Lauren explores these concepts further. This is one of the situations in which the women help each other grow. As a Black, lesbian woman from New York City, Mai has a very different identity from Lauren. And precisely those different perspectives create great added value.”
There is also the third main character: Amanda, a Mexican heterosexual woman who has been in a relationship with her high school sweetheart for years. “Through her conversations with Mai and Lauren she also begins to critically examine that relationship.”
Those conversations between the women sometimes become very profound and also cover heavier topics such as femicide.
“People sometimes ask me why I include this, but I actually think: why not? This is a real danger for women and, in my view, you cannot have a conversation about dating and relationships in our current society without talking about femicide.”
Friendship as the main plot
Despite these occasionally heavier themes, the author still sees her book as feelgood.
“It is feelgood in the way I personally like to read the genre: realistic. When you pick a feelgood book in a bookshop, there is a very big chance that you will end up with a romantic plot. And although there is nothing wrong with those books in themselves – I enjoy reading them from time to time as well – it is problematic that we do not have more options that highlight the rich inner lives of women in other ways. I therefore wanted to put friendship first and emphasise the value of conversations between women who, at first sight, do not seem similar. It is the book I wanted to read myself, and I am convinced that this is also the case for many other women.”
Independent publication
Just as the content of the book does not follow a traditional path, the author does not do so for the publication either.
“I am indeed publishing the book independently. The reality is that many publishers do not want to take the financial risk of publishing a book that does not fit into a single box, let alone one written by a relatively unknown voice. So I did everything from A to Z myself and I am proud of that. I discovered that there is a lot of power in having full creative control. As an independent author I am certainly extra grateful for every reader who reads my book”, the author concludes.
‘Tijd om te bloeien’ will be released on 20 March via Amazon as a paperback and e-book. You can follow the author on social media (Instagram: @nikitasbookclub) and find more information on her website: www.nikitagoossens.be.
Nikita blogs in Dutch (https://nikitasworld.substack.com) and English (https://nikitasworldofleisure.substack.com). An anglophone translation of the book is a possibility but there are no firm plans for this.
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