The Inheritance is the first book in my new trilogy set in The Swell Valley, a fictional group of villages in the Sussex downs. It centres around a disputed will. Tatiana Flint-Hamilton, the beautiful, wild-child daughter of the Lord of the Manor, finds herself cut out of her father's will and turfed out of Furlings, the grandest estate in the valley and her ancestral home. When Furlings is left to a distant cousin, the brooding, hugely successful but cut throat Australian magnate Brett Cranley, Tati vows to stop at nothing to reclaim her inheritance and to take her revenge on Brett for usurping her. With the whole village and valley taking sides, and family secrets on the verge of being exposed, Tati soon realises she's taken on more than she bargained for. Expect lots of sex, backstabbing and double dealing, with a hefty dose of rural idyll thrown in for good measure.
The Inheritance
Please tell us about the characters of Tati and Brett.
Tati begins the book as something of a spoiled child, but readers do see her grow and mature throughout the novel. Deep down she is insecure. She lost her mother young and had a loving but conflicted relationship with her father, whose death hits Tati hard (although not as hard as what she sees as his betrayal, cutting her out of the will.) For Tati, Furlings is like a person, a family member. It’s not just that she wants to fight for it, she needs to. It is all she has left of her family. Brett Cranley has no such emotional ties to the place. But like Tati, he too is more complex than his arrogant, master-of the universe persona suggests. Brett wants to be a good family man, but he struggles as a husband and a father and feels tremendous guilt for these failings, even as he selfishly pursues his own desires. He is driven and can be self-centred and cruel, but he is also capable of tenderness and warmth. Despite the differences in their ages and backgrounds - Brett is almost old enough to be Tati's father - he and Tatiana are more alike than they would care to admit. Both are stubborn and prepared to stop at nothing to get what they want.
Your sister is also a writer, so how much do you help each other out when it comes to reading and editing your work?
Not at all these days! We are both far too busy and overscheduled between our books and our children to do much reading or editing. But Louise helped me enormously when I first started writing and I still trust her judgment and value her opinion probably more than anyone else's. She has always been supportive and encouraging of my career, and I think her stuff is brilliant.
Please tell us about your inspiration behind the story.
I always find these questions hard, because truthfully there are so many different things that inspire and influence my books, and it is rare that I can pinpoint just one. I grew up in Sussex, and recently went back to the downs. I had forgotten how breath-taking that part of the country is, and I made a decision after my last visit to set these new novels there. I was also drawn to the idea of a trilogy, of recurring characters and settings that I could develop over a series of books, more fully than I have done in the past with one-off novels. As for the plot, my dad grew up expecting to inherit a large estate and then for various reasons it didn't happen. I hasten to add that my father is nothing whatsoever like Tatiana or Brett! I have never heard him express regret, or bitterness, or even disappointment, which I always felt was rather amazing. But that idea - of having your expectations and hopes dashed, and how you cope with that/how it forms your character - became interesting to me and partially inspired this story.
You have contributed to many different publications so which has been your favourite?
Well The Sunday Times were the first people to publish me and pay for something I had written, so they will always have a special place in my heart. I also think that the Sunday Times and The Times are wonderful papers. I miss the British press living in Los Angeles. We Brits complain about our newspapers all the time, but we don’t realise how lucky we are to have them. A bit like the NHS!
Why do you divide your time between Los Angeles and the Cotswolds?
Because my husband is American and when we married and had children we agreed to spend equal amounts of time in both countries. I struggled living in Los Angeles for many years, I found it shallow and urban and humourless; but I appreciate it now for the many things that it does offer, the light and creativity and the outdoorsy lifestyle. I think my kids are tremendously lucky and privileged to have both places and both cultures in their lives, even though sometimes the constant packing and moving gets a bit exhausting! But England is and will always be home for me, the Cotswolds in particular.
How inspirational are the Cotswolds for you?
The Cotswolds are my home, my roots. Perhaps oddly, given that I grew up in Sussex and it was only my grandmother who lived there, in Burford. But the summers and Christmases I spent there as a child were pure magic. I have always found myself drawn back to that part of England, and buying my own place there was a dream come true. I have an amazingly fortunate life and have travelled all over the world, to some uniquely beautiful places. But I have yet to see anywhere more lovely. Luckily for me, my husband fell in love with the area too.
What is next for you?
We'll see. Definitely some more Swell Valley books - I love these characters and this world. I am also working on a new series of Sidney Sheldon thrillers, which are amazingly fun to write, and am trying to develop some ideas for television. I spent a lot of my thirties pregnant, so am looking forward to my forties being perhaps a little calmer on the home front and more productive professionally. I do love working and am very aware how lucky I am to be able to write for a living. But I also like the idea of never quite knowing what's around the corner.
