Meet the Author

Since I’ve been writing novels I’ve been asked many, many questions about my background and working methods and I think this is a good place to answer some of them.

Did you always want to write?

Yes, but I spent a lot of my adult life having a good time and so I always thought I might turn my hand to fiction in my sixties, like Mary Wesley. I surprised myself when I knuckled down and did it in my early thirties. I grew up with lots of books about the place and always loved stories. When my sister Jane and I were about eleven and twelve, we were grounded one summer for unspecified minor crimes and we decided to write a novel each. We would write a chapter and then read it aloud, critiquing each other’s work. Mine was called Chopping and Changing and featured a hero called Chip. I was obviously into ‘ch’ words. We illustrated the manuscripts, too, and I probably included illuminated letters, as I was very into those.

Are you the only writer in your family?

Yes, professionally. My brother, for one, is a very talented writer, though he prefers, for some reason, to be a lawyer! One of my grandfathers was a cartoonist, so there’s a bit of artistry in the blood.

Your books are sometimes very sad, but in person you seem quite cheerful?

I am often told this, especially by people who follow my column in SW magazine, which is frivolous to say the least. What can I say? You know how you hear of comedy actors being very morose In Real Life, well maybe the opposite is true of people who write heartbreaking stories. I very much enjoy gossiping and other shallow behaviours.

Which of your books do you like best yourself?

I tend to be most pleased with whichever is the latest one, because the hard work and sense of accomplishment is so much fresher in the memory, but if you gave me a Chinese burn I’d have to admit a soft spot for The Second Husband. I felt I’d achieved exactly what I set out to, which was to create a very intense, claustrophobic little ménage.

What do you like to read on holiday?

Contemporary fiction all the way. I love Anne Tyler, Anita Shreve and Margaret Atwood in particular. I think the greatest living author writing in the English language is Tom Wolfe, but you have to wait ten years for a new one from him and so I usually re-read after five years. I’m revisiting lots of children’s books at the moment with my daughter Greta, who has just turned nine. We worked our way through my childhood favourites (Malory Towers and St Clare’s) and are now on hers (Harry Potter).

Are all authors friends with each other?

No, we work far too hard to be out meeting each other. Also we’re deadly rivals. There are some other authors I am chums with, including Dorothy Koomson, Bernadette Strachan, and Kate Furnivall, and it’s no surprise that I love their books too.