The Perfume Garden
What can you tell us about The Perfume Garden?
It's the story of one family and the Spanish Civil War. A young woman, Emma, inherits an old house in Valencia, and a box of letters from her mother. As she restores the house and garden, she discovers the truth about her family and that it's one thing letting go of the past - what if the past won't let go of you?
The book is set in 1936, so please tell us about your research into this time in our history?
There was a lot of research for 'The Perfume Garden' - I think with historical fiction you need to be able to walk confidently in your character's shoes as a writer, and give your readers just the facts the story needs. Writing a powerful, dramatic story that blends fact and fiction is the priority. Over the last ten years I learnt a lot about the Spanish Civil War, and only a fraction of that research ended up in the story.
The house is full of character and beautifully described, so is it based on somewhere you have lived or stayed?
Thank you. We lived in Valencia for three years, and I started writing the story there. I gave Emma my dream home - a beautiful abandoned house in a village near where we lived in the orange groves. Every time I passed it, I imagined how wonderful it would be to bring the house and garden back to life.
Emma leaves her job as London's leading perfumer to go to the house, so how much time did you invest looking into this profession?
I loved researching perfume. I'm an enthusiastic amateur, and love fragrance, so it was great learning as much as I could about the work of a perfumer. I talked to people in the industry, and hope that all the details really bring Emma's job to life.
Many books of different genres feature a house at the heart of the story, why do you think this is such an effective literary technique?
I've always loved books where the house is a character - like Donnafugata in 'The Leopard' or Manderley in 'Rebecca'. People are naturally curious about other people's homes, and I think you can learn so much about a family or a person from the way they choose to live. With fiction, it's a subtle, rich way to reveal a great deal about your characters.
You worked as an art consultant, curating collections for palaces and embassies in Europe and the Middle East, so how was this experience for you?
We lived in London for ten years, and I loved the creativity of coming up with art collections for designers and architects. I was lucky enough to see some amazing projects - and I enjoyed the variety. One minute you'd be at a framers in a railway arch in the East End of London, the next hanging a priceless Orientalist painting in a palace. It was always a dream to be a writer, though, and I used to get up an hour early before work to write.
Your previous novel The Beauty Chorus was published in 2011, so what can you tell us about this for fans of this book?
'The Beauty Chorus' is about three young women who flew fighter planes during WW2. Just as 'The Perfume Garden' focuses on women at war - the soldiers, nurses and war photographers in Spain, my debut novel explored how young girls 'did their bit' flying alongside the men. I really love bits of forgotten history like this, and think that's the great thing about historical fiction - hopefully if it's done well you learn so much as well as being carried away by a romantic, entertaining story.
You were a finalist in ITV's The People's Author competition in 2009, so how did this make you feel?
It was a great experience, and pretty nerve-wracking appearing on live TV! The judges were Gervase Phinn and Marian Keyes - she said about my work 'I thought it was incredibly atmospheric. On a sentence by sentence basis you’re like a poet. Your descriptions are absolutely exquisite’. That meant a huge amount to me as an unpublished author, and it gave me the confidence to go on and finish writing 'The Beauty Chorus'.
How does your writing process differ when you have to conduct a lot of research into your work?
I think every story starts with a question, and with historical fiction you're always aware that you have a responsibility to the reader to get the facts right. For example, I'm married to a pilot and he constantly gets annoyed when films and books get flying wrong. Naturally I got him to check all the flight sequences in 'The Beauty Chorus'! All this factual and historical research gives you a strong scaffolding to weave your fictional story around, and it adds depth and detail to the whole process.
What is next for you?
I'm working on a new story, and again there's love, war, espionage - and a priceless piece of jewellery...
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