Someone To Watch Over Me
Someone to Watch Over Me is the story of a child that goes missing from a Norfolk beach and his mother's subsequent struggle to discover what happened to him and to deal with her loss. It's about the frailties and strengths of relationships and about motherhood. I suppose you could describe it as a love story with thriller elements and a supernatural angle.
You have a work history in journalism and publicity, so how has this affected your writing process?
I am very deadline orientated which comes from working as a journalist. Some people dislike the pressure of having to complete a piece of writing by a certain day, but I find it really helps me to focus. It's when I don't have a deadline that I get anxious because then I spend all of my time in diversionary tasks like cleaning the house or going shopping or just lying on my bed eating cake.
This is your first novel, so do you have plans for another?
I'm writing my second one now but am finding it much harder than the first.
You would think that having done it once, it would be easier, but in fact the contrary is true. This time round I know how tricky it is to write a book and I have convinced myself that I won't pull it off again.
Is the novel writing process anything like you imagined?
It is much harder than I imagined. I have been told by writers over the years that it's a job like any other and that you have got to turn up and put the hours in, but I don't think I really anticipated how unwilling I often feel to actually get down to it! I love those occasions when I get caught up in writing and four hours have disappeared without me noticing, but they are quite rare.
You worked in an agency for street performers and comedians, so what was this experience like?
I loved that job because I met such great people. Escapologists and magicians and acrobats and dancers are all excellent company. The only people I found a little dreary were the jugglers. I know it’s hard to juggle ten balls at the same time as balancing a blazing torch on your chin, but it’s just not that interesting to watch and they practice too much to be good conversationalists. My best jobs have all been ones that have given me the opportunity to find out peoples' stories. I am very nosy.
You are the daughter of Barry Unsworth, so how much did your father's influence affect your writing before he died?
I very much admire my father's work. I think he was a great historical novelist with a real sense of how the past impinges on the present. I never wanted to write a book myself and I know that part of this reluctance was because I knew that I would never write as well as he did. I have come to see (rather late in life!) that I shouldn't compare myself to him or to anyone else.
The book has been likened to Sister and Before I Go to Sleep, so how does it feel to have this comparison?
I feel very honoured to be mentioned in the same sentence because I have read and love both of those books.
Who are your favourite reads?
Marian Keyes, Daphne du Maurier, George Eliot, Jilly Cooper, Sophie Hannah, Sally Beaumont, William Trevor, Anne Tyler.....the list is endless.
Where did the inspiration come from for the novel?
I think the story came from imagining that awful moment that every parent dreads, when they look around and can no longer see their child. Everyone who has had care of a child will recognise that dreadful clutch of fear.
What is next for you?
Overcoming my horror of writing another book! The next one, if I ever get it done, centres on two intertwined love stories, a contemporary one and a Regency one and is set in Hastings. I never stray too far from the sea!
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