Your biography Northern Lights investigates the tragic life of scientist Kristian Birkeland. What sparked your interest in him?
I have a fascination with tragic men and strong women. I would perhaps need analysis to tell you why! I was making a documentary for the BBC when I came across Birkeland’s story and knew immediately that I wanted to write it.
As research for your book you visited the northern lights. What was this experience like?
I spent several weeks within the Arctic Circle in Tromso and passed many nights lying in the snow on the roof of the auroral observatory watching the aurora play overhead. The experience changed entirely how I see our planet. I felt like an astronaut or a deep-sea diver discovering something incredible and new although, of course, it was only new to me. Unforgettable.
Your new book Montacute House is set in a real National Trust building. Why did you choose Montacute in particular?
My grandparents lived in the village of Montacute and some of my strongest childhood memories are of the house and the mysterious conical hill that lies nearby. I heard stories of the tunnels dug from Montacute House to the ruined monastery – a fantastic start on which to build the story.
The book takes place during the reign of Elizabeth I. What is it about this time that you find inspiring?
Montacute House was built towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign and I wanted to set the story at a time when the house was a new, gleaming, powerful presence in the land, a hub of political intrigue and influence. And did I already mention my fascination with powerful women?
Montacute House is targeted towards young adults – is this your preferred reading audience to write for?
I don’t have a preferred reading audience, I write what I find interesting and hope that others will find it so too, whoever they are. Plenty of adults have read Montacute House and tell me they enjoyed it and I think there is a large cross-over of interest between ‘young adult’ and ‘adult’.
What was the last book you read?
D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. I suggested it for the book group I belong to. I wanted to remind myself of how he handles writing about sex as sexual desire and its consequences are significant factors in the book I am currently writing.
You previously worked for the BBC and Channel 4 researching historical documentaries. What has been your most rewarding TV programme to create?
My most personally satisfying film was not historical at all but about a man who was blind and deaf called Michael Gerwat. Working with him was humbling and inspiring. Having said that, standing in Rasputin’s St. Petersburg flat or watching the sun set on the roof of St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai were among many unforgettable experiences I had while researching and making historical documentaries. For me, it is the experience of history that excites me – to get as close to understanding what it would have felt and smelt like to live at a certain time in the past, what freedoms and restrictions existed for whoever I am writing about, and what that tells us about life today.
Have you ever based a character in your books on someone you know?
I think all of them are collages of people I know. The book I am writing at the moment is about real people in history so the research is fleshed out with my own impressions – and the latter are by necessity created by the people I have met in my life.
If you could travel back in time what era would you visit?
The era in which lived the people I am currently writing about – I can’t say too much but it was before the Great Fire of London.
What is your writing ritual?
I long to have a writing ritual. Instead I have three children. I grab writing time when I can and have learnt to enjoy whatever I am doing and not resent the fact it is not often writing.
Where is your favourite place to eat out in West London?
Elias Lebanese Restaurant and Take Away on Turnham Green Terrace; fresh and aromatic. Delicious.
What is your life philosophy?
I am a Nichiren Daishonin Buddhist which essentially means that I chant and take action to create the greatest happiness in my own life and the lives of others.
What was the last show you saw?
I took my eldest daughter to see Goodnight Mr Tom by David Wood based on the book by Michelle Magorian. Oliver Ford Davies was heart-wrenchingly good as Tom. I wept and embarrassed my daughter.
What are your plans for this year?
To finish the first draft of my current book (rather optimistic I fear) and to have as much fun as possible with people I love, especially my husband and children and, of course, to work for world peace.
