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Liam Payne’s ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, has pulled from her real life to write her debut novel, Looking Forward.
“Obviously the book is fiction, [but it’s] definitely inspired by true events.” Henry, 23, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, May 15. “[The main character] Mallory is very similar to me, and that’s why it was very easy for me to write her character and put the emotion in there. I’m just grateful that I have this opportunity and platform to really help be a voice for women.”
Looking Forward, which came out on Tuesday, May 14, follows protagonist Mallory Hunt, who grew up in an exclusive Tennessee neighborhood but doesn’t quite fit in with the crowd of blonde debutantes. Instead, Mallory and her best friend, Luna, bond over boy band 5Forward and dream of glamorous futures far away from their hometown.
Years later, Mallory is “suddenly thrust” into the world of high-fashion modeling, per a book summary. As she becomes a fashion It Girl, she meets Oliver Smith, who used to be a member of 5Forward.
“From Dubai to Paris, London to Coachella, Mallory finds herself desperately in love with the former boy-bander despite fame, attention, and personal demons that threaten them both,” the book summary continues. “As their fantasy love affair goes from private intimacy to public meltdown, Mallory learns the pain and heartache when your love goes from girlhood fantasy to real-life drama.”
Henry has not publicly addressed her literary muse — though Mallory and Oliver have apparent parallels to her life with Payne, 30.
Henry grew up in Texas, the daughter of a high-profile attorney. In 2019, Henry started dating One Direction singer Payne when she was 18 and he was 26. Payne, who shares 6-year-old son Bear with ex Cheryl Cole, proposed to Henry in 2020. The couple were together on-and-off until they split for good in 2022. Payne has since moved on with Kate Cassidy.
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In an excerpt of Looking Forward published by Cosmopolitan earlier this month, it is revealed that Mallory is also the daughter of an attorney and flees London when she and Oliver break up and end their own engagement. (Henry had similarly lived in the U.K. with Payne, who grew up in Wolverhampton but moved to London during One Direction’s heyday.)
"I am still young. I’ve got my whole life ahead of me. When I first left London, I was in a pretty bad state,” a passage shared with Cosmopolitan reads. “I told myself the best way to move on was to forget. Just let them float from my mind, all the bad things that happened. Forget everything, especially the end. Forget Oliver. I didn’t forget, though. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t. I was so traumatized. In the end, I realized that forgetting wouldn’t help anything.”
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At one point, Oliver even gives Mallory an ultimatum to either get an abortion or “lose [him]” in the middle of a physical fight. The scene was loosely based on Henry’s real life, but it is unknown if she actually had a D&C or if it occurred during her relationship with Payne. (The singer has also not publicly addressed the speculation.)
“I drew inspiration [from my real life], and I wanted to include a scene like that in the book because while not everyone dates a pop star, I feel like everyone dates someone like Oliver,” Henry told People. “I feel like it was just important for women to be seen in that way, and can relate and not feel like they’re alone in whatever they’re going through.”
Looking Forward is out now.
