Book fairs are the most unpredictable events imaginable. In advance, the idea of spending a day in the company of fellow writers and potential readers seems full of promise. What could be more enjoyable than talking books, stories, spreading the word about one’s novels and making some valuable sales? And surely, anyone who walks into...
I have just finished reading ‘Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont’ by Elizabeth Taylor – and cannot imagine how I have managed to get to this stage in life without reading it before. But then, as Taylor is described in the notes in my paperback copy, she is ‘the unsung heroine of British 20th century fiction.’...
My new novel, THE LEGACY OF MR JARVIS, has more than one setting, but the most important, crucial place that dominates the narrative is clearly indicated by the cover image: the south east coast of England. And not the contemporary south coast that you might visit these days. My protagonist, Mary, is recalling the events...
Sometimes, carrying out research for a novel seems the best part of writing! My third novel which is set in London concerns three main characters who all move into flats in a converted Edwardian house. One of these three protagonists is a woman called Catherine Wells who works in a small museum in Clerkenwell. The...
The other day, I was talking to someone about a recent discussion that had taken place at her book group. The novel under discussion was written about 20 years ago and was a remarkable success story at the time, going on to launch the writer’s notable literary career. I remember loving it when I read...
…which is why getting the cover right for a book is so important. It is, after all, the very first hook for a potential reader or, alternatively, an immediate sign that the contents is of absolutely no interest to them. When I published my first novel, ‘Counting the Ways,’ the few sketchy ideas that I...
There are simply too many books to read; too many I have always meant to read and am ashamed that I haven’t (Vanity Fair heads that list and all of Trollope …) let alone the number appearing weekly that are there on my mental list to catch up with one day. Yet for the past...
Is it ‘a wonderful story of true love’ as the poster suggests? Not my choice of wording, but the phrase suggested by the marketing people who designed it, making use of a review comment, and I suppose they should know what attracts …but so many people look at that and ask me, ‘so do you...
My next novel, THE LEGACY OF MR JARVIS, is now with my publisher and has an official publication date of 28th January 2020. Copies will, in fact, be available about 2 months before this once they have left the printers and the novel could prove an ideal Christmas present for that troublesome and hard to...
…except when I am at our house in Crete! And then, suddenly, the days seem to offer spare hours when simply reading begins to feel like a pleasurable obligation. So what did I read during my recent visit? John Boyne’s latest novel, LADDER TO THE SKY. I’ve loved all his novels and this was compelling...
