Your Latest London Dispatch for April 2024
Thinking about a lifetime of inspiration
Well, hello!
This month’s Latest London Dispatch looks a little bit different because, to be honest, I’ve been head down doing what I love to do most: writing!
So instead of sending your regular round up of book updates, etc. I thought I’d share something a little bit different.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about where book ideas come from. It’s fitting really given that I am at the beginning of not one but two new projects. They are the third Evelyne Redfern mystery novel and my 2026 (?) standalone historical novel. (Don’t worry, I will be writing one first and then the other rather than trying to write them simultaneously like I did last year...) However, it isn’t just the fact that both of those books are in their respective infancies.
At the end of March, I was invited by the incredible staff at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, to give a virtual talk called “Looking Back to Create Something New” about The Last Garden in England. The book had been selected as part of their community read program, and it gave me the opportunity to reflect on writing that book.
So many things can go into a book idea that it can sometimes be difficult to pin all of them down. However, The Last Garden in England has a more straightforward “origin story.” It is, in many ways, a book that I couldn’t have written without my dad.
Those of you who were kind of enough to watch my virtual book tour that happened while much of the world was still locked down in January 2021 will know that Dad is an avid gardener. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood are of digging in the dirt next to him as he planted lavender, deadheaded roses, and laid what felt at the time like endless miles of irrigation pipes to keep our Southern California garden thriving. I remember once being so head-to-toe covered in mud after one of these afternoons that I was actually sprayed down with the garden hose in the backyard before being allowed to go in the house and take a real shower.
Between gardening with Dad and a childhood generally lived outdoors all year round in Los Angeles, I was that kid with streaky, sun-bleached hair and dirt under her fingernails. I fell in love with roses and herbs, and I have fond memories of the triumph of vigorously growing tomatoes that then gave way to the mild panic about what on earth we were going to do with the bumper crop we’d certainly have on our hands in a matter of weeks. It frustrates me to no end that raising basil in the Mediterranean-like climate of California was so easy and I now struggle so much with it here in London.
However, gardening and appreciating gardens wasn’t confined only to my parents’ house. We spent countless weekends going to the Huntington Library where my sister and I would run around, looking at the snapping turtles sunning themselves on the banks of the Lily Ponds or the koi gracefully gliding through the water in the Japanese Garden.
Family vacations too were often spent stopping off to visit gardens, especially when we were visiting Mum’s family in the UK. On one of these trips, we went to Mottisfont Abbey, Hidcote, Sissinghurst, Nymans, and David Austin’s rose gardens in Shropshire to see the incredible English border gardens that I would, decades later, write about in The Last Garden in England.
As I grew up and my childhood ambition of becoming a writer became more of a reality, I started to notice that little, seemingly inconsequential things from my past were creeping into my books. It was as though ideas and experiences needed time to percolate before bubbling up to the surface.
That is precisely what happened with The Last Garden in England. After I’d finished writing The Whispers of War, I was trying to figure out what to write next. I sent a few pitches to my agent Emily, but none of them were quite right. After nearly an hour on the phone, we agreed that I should go away and have a think. However, right before we finished the call, I said something along the lines of, “You know, this is just an idea and not a pitch, but I’ve always wanted to write a book about a garden that connects several women’s stories across time.”
As I began to expand on that idea—with plenty of “I don’t really know” and “I’m not sure” statements to qualify what I was trying to say,—Emily stopped me and said, “That’s the pitch.”
In twenty minutes, with Emily’s help, I’d outlined the rough idea for The Last Garden in England. It would follow five women’s stories across three timelines, all of them weaving together to form the story of Highbury House’s gardens.
As I began to write that book, I realized how much of my past experiences were being drawn into the book. The family trips to historical gardens were the most obvious instance with Hidcote even appearing in the book. All of those days looking at rose catalogues with Dad and helping him plant out bare-root roses informed the varieties I chose to put in Highbury House’s gardens. Even the memories of pruning plants and digging in the dirt made their way into the book.
Fans of Taylor Swift are always on the hunt for the Easter eggs that the singer leaves them in her songs, liner notes, fashion, and social media posts. Sometimes I feel as though I’m pulling out little Easter eggs from my own memories to help me capture a feeling, describe a scene, or even simply amuse myself when I go back to edit a book.
I am now working on a new book (the third in the Evelyne Redfern series), and even in the early days of that draft I can see me doing this. This book is set in a city abroad that I have been to before, so I’m drawing on my travels to help decide where to send my characters. Snatches of conversations I’ve had are working their way in along with meals I’ve had.
I’m certain that, when this first draft is done, I will go back to edit it before sending the draft on to my editor and find all sorts of pieces of inspiration I hadn’t even realized hidden in the pages.
Postscript
What I’ve been reading: Scandalous Women by Gill Paul (available for preorder now!)
What I’ve been watching: The Gentleman and I finished season 2 of The Bear this month and I’m still reeling. I won’t gush too much except to say that I think the progression from seasons 1 to 2 are a masterclass in character development
What I’ve been listening to: “Bodyguard” by Beyoncé, the ear worm of the spring (according to me)
What I’ve been knitting: I’m making socks for The Gentleman and for myself! (They’re different pairs, don’t worry.)
In Case You Missed It
Your Latest London Dispatch is my regular free newsletter for subscribers to this Substack and will always remain free. However, earlier this year I decided to start writing and publishing additional content. This includes weekly essays, monthly reading roundups, and quarterly short stories. Because writing is my full-time job and this additional content takes time away from writing my books, I am making this extra content available to paid subscribers for a small monthly or annual fee (i.e. about a cup of fancy coffee a month).
Here is a sample of what paid subscribers got in their inboxes last month:
