I love history. Especially women’s history. I love finding out all those stories behind all those facts we were taught at school. History can be unbelievably exciting, and then there are moments that sound just like our own lives. When I was researching the Mrs Hudson and Mary Watson books I read a lot of court reports and articles about Victorian women, who I’d always been told were meek, mild, easily frightened, angels in the home. It turned out they were anything but, and I read these wonderful stories of real women standing up for their rights, doing amazing things, running their own business and doing some very bad things too. I love making discoveries like that.
Michelle Birkby
I’m a terrible cook. I’m also an awful housekeeper. I’ll write a line about Mrs Hudson being disapproving because someone hasn’t cleaned their front door step that day, and I’ll look up to see I haven’t vacuumed in a week. And I’m not going to vacuum now either. As for the cooking – I had to get some of that from Mrs Beeton, some of it from the Victorian episode of Great British Bake Off, and lots of it from my best friend, who loves history and cooking. She’s very useful.
I have Ulcerative Colitis. This is an inflammatory bowel disease. I was diagnosed about five years ago, and didn’t respond to medication, so in the end I had to have my colon removed and replaced with an internal J Pouch. I’m fairly healthy now, but being diagnosed with a chronic illness meant I had rethink my entire life. I decided I didn’t want to go on the way I was going, merely dreaming of what I wanted to do. I had to go out and do it, so I started to write The House at Baker Street.
I’m addicted to soap operas. Not all of them. At the moment it’s Eastenders, Neighbours and The Archers. I love getting totally caught up in the story, and following these characters lives day by day. And when soap is good, it is really really good, such as Helen Archer’s trial, or the Albert Square bus crash. I love those moments.
I belong to a book group. A friend of mine set this up, and once a month we read a book that one of us has chosen, and discuss it, and then drink quite a lot of wine. It’s lots of fun, and really interesting, and I’ve ended up reading lots of books I wouldn’t normally read. I think my favourite discoveries from this were Love Nina by Nina Stibbe and Lady’s Maid by Margaret Foster.
I am fascinated by the Brontes. I love their books. I’ve read them all over and over again. I am fascinated how three sisters growing up miles from any literary circles, and without any encouragement or experience, became these skilled, observant, writers. To find one genius in a family is rare enough, but to find three is unheard of. Charlotte was told by Robert Southey, one of the great poets of the age, that literature was not a woman’s business, and they proved him spectacularly wrong. My family on both sides come from Yorkshire, and my aunt is constantly finding links between my family and the Brontes. She discovered only last week that one of my ancestors was married by Patrick Bronte, and I got very excited indeed.
I can bellydance! That has nothing to do with my books, I just love telling people that! I have the outfit, with a coin belt, I can do all the basic moves and quite a few advanced ones, and I just love the flowing movements and sensuality of it.
I love London. Whilst my family is from Yorkshire, I was born in London, and I have lived here most of my life. I love being in a city that’s so full of history, yet also full of the new. I love how different London can be, just from one tube stop to another. I love that it’s full of little hidden courts and alleyways with something wonderful at the end. I love the people, and the food and the music and the art and everything about it.
I wrote my first book when I was seven. It was for a school project, I wrote a story about a bunny rabbit. I haven’t stopped writing since. I’ve written ghost stories and romances and fantasy stories, but nothing was published until I decided to try and write a crime novel. Now that I’ve discovered it, I’m going to stick with the crime genre. Murder is definitely me.
I’m a sci-fi fan. I have been since I was very little. My second ever memory is watching Doctor Who. The story was Invasion of the Dinosaurs with Jon Pertwee, but I remember the companion most. She was Sarah-Jane Smith and I thought – and still think – she was wonderful. I wanted to be just like her. She was brave and clever and daring, much better than all the sweet and soft heroines of other programmes. I enjoy the way sci-fi plays with all our conceptions and beliefs, and turns them around and presents them to us in a different light. I love a good light-sabre battle. And I really do appreciate all the strong women to be found in sci-fi. In every other movie I saw, the Princess was like Snow White. In Star Wars, the Princess was Leia, and there was nothing sweet and meek about her. I wanted to be a Princess like the other girls, but I wanted to be the Princess who led the rebellion.
The Women of Baker Street by Michelle Birkby is published by Pan Macmillan, 9 Feb 2017 £7.99 paperback.