This is how the novel begins:
‘I have sent him her hair. When I took it from its hiding place and held it to my face I caught the faintest trace of her; a ghost scent of lavender and sun-warmed skin. It carried me back to the horse-drawn hut with its wheels in the sea where I saw her without cap and bonnet for the first time. She shook out her curls and twisted round. My buttons, she said, will you help me? The hut shuddered with the waves as I fumbled. She would have fallen if I hadn’t held her. I breathed her in, my face buried in it; her hair.
I suppose he has had to destroy it to reveal its secret; he can have no idea what it cost me to part with it. All that remains are the few strands the jeweller took for the ring upon my finger: a tiny braid, wound into the shape of a tree. When I touch the glass that holds it I remember how it used to spill over the pillow in that great sailboat of a bed. If hair can hold secrets this ring must surely hold mine…’
People sometimes ask me if I really believe Jane Austen could have been intentionally poisoned. My answer is that although it’s improbable, it’s not impossible. We can never know everything about her – especially as her sister, Cassandra, burnt a large number of the author’s letters after her death. But the material that does remain suggests dark undercurrents within the Austen family which are a fertile source of speculation.
I spent eighteen months writing the novel. As I said earlier, writing can be a tough process and it’s not always easy to sit down each morning and get on with it. If I’m feeling stuck or uninspired I have a few tricks to get my brain into gear. One of my favourites involves using what I call my ‘faces’. I have a box of photos cut from newspapers and magazines – not famous faces, just ordinary people – and when I plan a novel I try to find faces to match each character. I find that staring at the faces triggers my creative juices, sending my mind off in new directions. I have no idea why, but it works!
I also have pictures on my desk of the two authors who inspired me to become a novelist – Patricia Cornwell and P.D. James. I was lucky enough to meet P.D. James a few months ago at a talk she gave in Winchester. I told her it was hearing her speak at a writers’ workshop back in the late ‘80s that made me want to be an author. She was absolutely charming and allowed me have a photo taken with her. Just before the camera clicked she reached out and put her arm round my shoulders. I will always treasure that photo!
My advice to new and aspiring authors is – as I said before - believe in yourself. BUT: listen to constructive criticism from people who know what they are talking about. Don’t be too precious about your work – writing is like learning a craft, so be prepared to rewrite your manuscript if an editor or publisher shows an interest. It took me four drafts to get ‘The Mysterious Death of Miss Jane Austen’ to the stage where both I and my editor were happy with it!