In this book, you have not only woven in a beautiful speculative element but also created an incredibly detailed world of art and history. What inspired you to write this story?
As a writer, I love exploring the places in our lives where magic could happen. The boundaries where, if things were only a tiny bit different, reality and fantasy might start to mix and blur. I need to see that sense of magic spurred on by something real that I have felt or experienced. My first novel, Five First Chances, explored time travel linked to mental health. For The Estate, the idea of exploring the way art can act as a window into the artists’ lives and can make us feel other people’s feelings and transport us into their world came naturally. I have always loved art and studied history of art at university as part of my degree, but even before that, in my teens, I discovered the tragic and fascinating life of Camille Claudel, a French sculptor whose works and fate stayed with me all those years. Every time I go to Paris, I make sure to pop into the Rodin Museum to visit her sculptures! Once I decided that I wanted to write about art and obsession, the character of Constance Sorel grew from that inspiration. There are many differences between Claudel and Sorel, but this is where it all started.
If you were to enter any artist’s work, who would it be and why?
I would have to say Claudel now, wouldn’t I? However, given that she struggled with her mental health at various points of her life, that might not be a very enjoyable experience. That said, I adore her sculpture called The Waltz, and I would love to visit her moment of inspiration for this. It is such a beautiful composition, with both lovers dancing tenderly at the edge of losing their balance. I wonder if she poured some of her love for Rodin in there, but I don’t want to be like Maxime and assume everything she did was about her lover! Otherwise, I would love to have the ability to “visit” arts and crafts, some of the anonymous creations that can be found in museums around the world. Pottery, jewelry…I would love to be able to find out about the lives of the craftspeople who made those and have access to a slice of life in all those cultures and civilizations.
Camille is a complex character, one who you want to root for until the very end. What was it like writing her?
She was easy to write but less easy to like at times. Her drive and ambition, her deep emotional burnout, and her need for external validation all came together—I gathered quite quickly how everything she does comes from the fact that she never got that validation from her mother or her peers. Her struggles were painful to write at times, and throughout the drafting process, I understood how far she had to go as an antihero to realize how powerful she can be so that she can stop relying on others by the end and let go of her obsession with Maxime and his world. I knew some of her decisions, particularly the way she is with Lila and Lowen at the ball, would make it perhaps more difficult for readers to like her, but I really hope they can accept that she had to make mistakes in order to realize what she truly wanted to stand for in the end. I wanted to create a character that had to work out where her integrity lay and what she would sacrifice to be her authentic self, and that came with challenges.
Where do you find your creative inspiration?
Ideas for novels tend to come to me once I have just finished a project, but I would say that my process doesn’t really rely on inspiration… I wish I could sit and wait for the muse to sing to me! Generally, it’s by showing up at my desk and starting to type the things that come to me or by discussing kernels of ideas with my long-suffering husband (who is the absolute king of plotting!). That said, fishing for ideas and inspiration comes when I’m in a particular mood, which I need to consciously activate: some kind of openness to the world, a willingness to really look at what is going on around me, on television, in strangers’ lives and conversations around me… The process is like rooting around in sand for little nuggets of gold and thinking, I could use this! Art is very inspiring—I could stand for a long time in front of a painting or sculpture and wonder who those people are, what happened before and after the snapshot of the picture… And that’s the same for older stories: there are lots of nods to Arthurian legends in this book, and as someone who studied classics and medieval French at various points and who loves listening to history podcasts, I’m spoiled for choice!
What’s your writing process like? Do you have any tips for new writers who don’t know where to start?
I don’t think I know what my process is like yet. Or rather, I’m hoping it won’t turn out to be what my process for my first two books has been, which has been to write and rewrite and rewrite and throw lots of words out while trying to figure out the story… I always tend to start with a situation, not a story, and this makes plotting difficult. So my advice to new writers would be: Don’t be afraid of conflict. Ask yourself what your characters want, and put many obstacles, internal and external, in their way. Give them agency. Allow them to make mistakes and have to scramble to make it up to their loved ones. As per the act of writing itself…I don’t think there’s a secret to it, apart from showing up and doing it. I love writing, and yet most of the time, I would much rather sit and watch a cooking show instead of opening my computer. You have to be really disciplined, but the key to doing this is to set yourself up for success by keeping your goals realistic. Writing five hundred words a week is better than not writing at all!
What are you reading these days?
I work full-time as well as being a writer, so I honestly find it difficult to find much time to read. Recently, I have enjoyed some romances by Ali Hazelwood and Mhairi McFarlane, and I am currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which I am loving. My tastes are quite varied, but I love stories about complex relationships, whether on the more romance-y or literary side. I really like books that surprise me by busting their genre bubble too or not quite fitting anywhere! Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer was a perfect example of something really different and moving that I enjoyed recently.