10 Things I Want My Readers To Know About Me By Elizabeth Fremantle

9 February 2017

My father was born in 1900

I was the product of his second marriage in his sixties to my mother, who was almost thirty years his junior. She was younger than her step-son (my half-brother) which meant that when I was born I was already an aunt several times over. A bit like Mick Jagger’s family only much less cool.

Elizabeth Fremantle by Phyllis Christopher

I was expelled from two schools

Both times for being a bad influence. People who know me now find it hard to believe but really I was just hopeless at being naughty and always got caught.

I did a degree as a mature student

Because I was expelled I didn’t sit my A Levels, so I went to university as a mature student when my children were small. I studied in the evenings for seven years. It made me understand that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

After my MA in Creative Writing it took me ten years to get published

In that time I wrote three novels that were all rejected and I don’t know what kept me going, but something did. So it may never be too late to follow your dreams but it can take a lifetime to achieve them.

I lived in Paris but was homesick for London

I married a French man and we moved to Paris. I landed a job at French Vogue and it was the most intimidating place I’ve ever worked. I spent my three years there longing for London. Strangely, one of the things I missed most was English supermarkets.

I’ve recently taken up archery

The good thing about it is that it’s a sport that doesn’t require either youth or superhuman levels of fitness. I secretly imagine myself becoming good enough to be the oldest Olympian ever. Though I will have to improve greatly!

I’m terrified of flying

I will only be able to be the oldest Olympian ever if the Olympics are in Europe, as I haven’t flown long haul for more than twenty years.

I was always trying to run away as a child

I had a ‘running away bag’ permanently packed from about the age of six. It was a big family joke but I did finally run away properly and caused everyone, including myself a good deal of anguish. This is why I wanted to write about Arbella Stuart (the heroine of The Girl in the Glass Tower) whose entire life was spent trying to escape the situations she found herself in.

I once worked as a kennel maid for Battersea dogs home

I was sixteen, it was heart-breaking and I wanted to take every dog home with me. I am a great dog lover and have two poodles, who are both exasperating and adorable in equal parts