Q: You’re a Londoner. How do you think American audiences will react differently to The Sea of Lost Love than English readers have? Do you think Americans will more easily relate to Celestria? Did you change the story at all for publication in the states?
A: I didn’t change the story for the USA although I did consciously make the decision at the start to have an American character – I love the Americans and am aware of my American market that is very important to me. I like to think that everyone can identify with my characters whatever country they live in. I’m translated into 25 different languages. I write about love and loss – we’re all human beings and those conditions are universal. Besides, Italy is a beautiful country to escape to. I can’t imagine anyone not being seduced by it!
Q: In the acknowledgments you thank your friend John Stewart, a psychologist, for helping you, “delve into the minds of [your] characters.” How did you go about this? How did Mr. Stewart assist you? Have you used this method to help you develop the characters in all of your books?
A: This was the first time I researched my characters psychological state with a professional. I felt I needed to understand Monty - what drives a person to such extreme behavior. John is a friend of mine and we enjoyed a couple of lunches together, discussing the characters. He was very helpful. Sometimes, though, there is no rational explanation for a person’s frailty, they are simply that way by nature.
Q: In each of your books readers are transported to beautiful, awe-inspiring locales. Do you travel much? Or are some of your descriptions based on research alone?
A: I have spent time in every location I have written about. I have to, in order to experience the place with all my senses! I rely, though, on places I have spent a lot of time in, hence my return to Italy and France. I would love to write about other places, but as I write a book a year, and have small children, I don’t have the time to jet off to new countries. I will one day, but for now I rely on the places I know and love. I will add that I invent all my locations, I don’t like history to interfere with my stories, especially as I write about the war where every French and Italian town has its own very memorable history and readers are very quick to write to me if I get something wrong.
Q: The Sea of Lost Love is at once a romance and a mystery. How did you manage to balance the love stories with Celestria’s unromantic quest to uncover the truth about Monty?
A: Sea of Lost Love is my 7th title. The first four weren’t mysteries. When I began my 5th, Last Voyage of The Valentina, I wanted to try something new but within my capability, so I added a thread of mystery. I so enjoyed it that I did the same for the Gypsy Madonna and Sea of Lost Love. I think it adds another level to my stories and gives me something to get my teeth into. I’m not a mystery writer, I like to think I write about love, however, a little mystery gives me pleasure as I hope it does for my readers!
Q: You leave the reader with little doubt about Monty’s true nature, but never directly pass judgment on him. How do you hope readers will react to his deception? Is there any way to interpret his actions compassionately?
A: I leave it to the readers to make up their own minds about Monty. Personally, he’s weak and weak people are very dangerous. I found him rather compelling as a character – as a father I’d find him devastating!
Q: You include passages that detail the temptation Father Dalgliesh felt. Was it important to you to humanize a religious figure? How do you hope readers will respond to a religious character with a layered personality, complete with flaws?
A: I was very conscious of not going down the Thornbirds rout with my priest, so I made him human but strong. Everyone is multi dimensional and no one is perfect. He fought with his feelings and overcame them, which is a wonderful thing. I loved my priest and I hope that comes across in the book. I like to think everyone evolves in my novels. They grow wiser through experience, life moulds and changes them as it does in reality. I have a soft spot for Father Dagliesh!
Q: Why did you choose to set so much of the book on the coast? Do you feel tied to the sea in any way?
A: I adore the sea. It mirrors the way we feel inside, always changing, one minute benign the next formidable and menacing! It’s a wonderfully expressive backdrop to a romantic novel.
Q: Pamela does not believe in a spirit world until she sees her father’s ghost. What are your personal beliefs concerning life after death?
A: I have seen spirits all my life. I firmly believe death is but a moving into another dimension, a return to where we all come from and those we love, who have died, are around us all the time, sending us love and guidance.
Q: Whose writing has inspired you? Do you find inspiration for your work in other art forms as well?
A: I’m inspired by other writers all the time. I admire so many creative people. Namely, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, Laura Esquival, Fanny Flagg, Philippa Gregory, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Sebastian Faulks and the great classics: Tolstoy, Austen, Dumas, Edith Wharton. Naturally, I’m inspired by nature, life and the colourful, eccentric people I’m fortunate enough to meet. I am also very moved by films: The Notebook, Bridges of Madison County, An Affair to Remember to name but a few.
Q: What can readers expect next from you? Are you working on anything currently?
A: I’ve just finished my next book, The French Gardener, and am currently writing my 9th, based again in Italy, a continuation of Last Voyage of The Valentina. I hope to continue to write one a year – while there is life there are stories….!
