Guest Author - Jane Sanderson

I am delighted and honoured to welcome back JANE SANDERSON to the blog

I really enjoyed NETHERWOOD and look forward to her her next novel

photos courtesy of publisher

 Publisheed by Sphere
on the 27^th September 2012

Jane, thank you for answering my questions

Please tell us more about your follow up novel to Netherwood, Ravenscliffe

Ravenscliffe picks up just two weeks after Netherwood ends, so it’s late summer in 1904, and King Edward VII is about to pay a visit to Netherwood Hall. All the loose threads from the first book are picked up: Tobias Hoyland’s infatuation with Thea Stirling, Eve’s relationship with the gardener, Daniel MacLeod, Amos Sykes’s burgeoning political career…. It’s all there! I don’t like it, as a reader, when a sequel leaps forward too many years, so you feel you’ve missed out on some critical development or other.

Who is your favourite character in Ravenscliffe and why?

My favourite character is Anna Rabinovich. She’s strong, independent, interesting and lovable. Because of her affluent Russian background, she has a different outlook on life to her good friend Eve – Anna is the sort of friend we should all have: loyal, but willing to give us a push if we need it. In Ravenscliffe, Anna is really allowed to shine.

Can you share a little about the research you undertook for this new novel?

I relied heavily on history books – as I did with Netherwood – and as a result I learned a great deal in the process. The thing about research is that you have to use it lightly, otherwise it comes across as leaden, like a history lesson, or an exercise in self-aggrandisement, as if the writer’s saying, ‘Look how much I know about this period’. So you have to glean as much as you can from books about Edward VII or early twentieth century politics, or mining disasters in Yorkshire, and then use the details very sparingly, remembering at all times that it’s the characters that are important, not the period they lived in.

            Also, I do my research on the hoof, not having the inclination (or the luxury) to read lots of books before making a start on the manuscript. I think it suits my temperament better to get cracking, and look things up as I go along. Having said that, I’m currently reading a fascinating biography of Tsar Nicholas II for the third book, and I can’t put it down. All I needed was a bit of colourful detail about Nicholas and Alexandra, and I could now practically write a thesis on them!

Jane can be found here http://www.jane-sanderson.com/

and on twitter @SandersonJane