Why did you decide to write a story about Ancient Egypt?
I’ve always been fascinated by Egyptology – the rituals, the religions, the way people lived their everyday lives. Until Howard Carter unearthed his tomb in 1922, Tutankhamun was considered a relatively minor pharaoh. Yet as the world struggled to recover from World War 1, Tutankhamun’s story brought much-needed excitement and glamour, and captured the public’s imagination in unprecedented ways. It was this – why people were so interested in the discovery of a long-dead young man – that intrigued me most of all.
How much research did you do?
I read books on Howard Carter, watched documentaries, trawled internet sites. In 1994, when I’d finished uni, I went backpacking through Egypt. Some of the details in the book are taken from my own experiences. I did enough research to create – I hope – a believable world: things like clothes, food, living conditions, expectations, attitudes. Yet the story always comes first.
Many have dubbed you ‘The Queen of Historical Fiction’. What is it that draws you to writing historical fiction?
I’m a massive fan of reading historical fiction, so that definitely influences what I write. For me, it’s the world-building, the intriguing little customs, sayings, bits of social history that feel both familiar and strange, which make it such a great genre to write. I’d imagine it’s similar to writing fantasy, only with more corsets and candlelight.
Who or what inspired the character of Lil?
Lil is named after Ella Lily Kaye, whose mum bid on the Authors For Grenfell charity auction for her daughter’s name to feature in my next book. The character herself is my own creation. Lil’s a girl very much of the era – on one hand she clings to the past and what she knows, but on the other hand, she’s dying to face the new challenges that come her way.
How did you decide on the title of the book? Do you usually start with a title or does it come later in the process?
Originally the story was called ‘The Lost Boy’, which came to me very early in the writing process, as my titles tend to do. But we then realised quite a few other books had this same title, so I came up with the alternative.
The story has a feminist message – how important was this to the era?
Very. World War 1 meant women had to step into men’s roles, often doing their jobs, managing households, money, etc. By the time the war ended, women had proved themselves as capable as men in all sorts of ways. In 1918, women over thirty years of age with property were able to vote. It was a step in the right direction, yet only accounted for 40 per cent of the female population. If you were young and poor, like Lil and her mum, your voice still wasn’t heard.
Can you sum up the main themes of the book and how you chose these?
Recovery, secrets, putting right past wrongs, friendship, fitting in, having courage to swim against the tide. I wasn’t aware of ‘choosing’ the book’s themes. They grew with each draft of the story.