(U.S. Title - The Perfect Happiness)
My tenth novel - I never thought I’d be able to write that. It feels good. They are all like children to me so I can’t say which I like best. I can say the ones that were delivered with ease and those that were harder. The Affair was easy to write, being inspired as I was by a group of girlfriends. We lunch together, laugh together and share everything. As I grow older I value my girlfriends more than ever. If they have taught me anything it is that humour is the greatest healer.
I wanted to do something different with this one. So I based it in London. Although Last Voyage of The Valentina has chapters on the houseboat in Chelsea, The Affair is very urban – until it gets to the vineyard in South Africa. I was a little anxious about writing about the city, having never really done it before. But it’s all really about character - if the characters are good they’ll work anywhere. I watched my own friends, the way we interact with each other. We are all rather loud, and very different, but the dynamic works. We’re thick as thieves. So I lifted that dynamic and transferred it into my novel. Although the characters are fictitious, the combination of personalities is similar. This enabled me to write about a group of women who gel. I had great fun with these scenes because they are comic. When I’m dealing with love and longing I feel my readers need some light relief. I hope that with this book they have it in spades!
I went to South Africa on book tour a few years ago and visited a vineyard near Stellenbosch. It was so beautiful and so romantic I knew that one day I would base a book there. The idea for The Affair is a contemporary one. In fact, people have been having affairs since marriage was invented. Only now with email and texts it’s easier than ever…
