The Flight of Gemma Hardy
Margot than you so much for taking the time to talk to us about your new release
The Flight of Gemma Hardy
Debbie - I have to tell you right off that the cover plus the title is what pulled me to this novel
How important do you think the title and or cover is to the success of a novel.
Margot - Thank you. I think Harper Collins and the brilliant jacket designer, Jarrod Taylor, did a wonderful job. I am probably a bad person to judge how much effect a book’s cover has as I have a lot of opinions before I enter a bookshop. But as I browse I do pick up certain books I’ve never heard of, drawn to them by their alluring covers.
As for titles, to quote a friend a good title is the title of a good book but again I do think a memorable, or resonant, title can really help a book find readers. Think of Reading Lolita in Tehran.
D -Tell us a little about the novel, what inspired it.
M -I was inspired by my love of Jane Eyre and by realizing how many people shared that love. It seemed like a wonderful, though very challenging idea to try to write back to Bronte, creating a heroine who wrestles with a more contemporary set of morals and mores. I set my novel in the ‘60s just before the great wave of feminism, the pill and equal rights broke over Britain and the US.
D - You had a childhood that most girls would envy, tell us a little about being raised in a Scottish Private school for boys.
M - My father taught at a boys’ private school in the valley of Glenalmond, a very beautiful place. It was ten miles from the nearest town and a world unto itself. As a small child I took the presence of boys in uniform for granted. Later of course there were frustrations at living in such a remote place, at traveling back and forth to my girls’ school in town. I could never stay late to play hockey or hang out. And fraternizing with the boys at the school was strictly forbidden.
D - Give us an example of the day in the life of Margot Livesey
M -My ideal day – except for when I’m walking in the Scottish hills – is quite boring.. I try to write fiction in the morning. In the afternoon I read my students work and go to the gym and answer letters.. My husband is a painter. In the evenings I like to cook; I made desserts in a restaurant for a while. Often after supper we both work but we also see friends (which is the opposite of boring) and go to the cinema. Then periodically there are bursts of travel and excitement.
D - Everyone is always trying to put a book on a genre shelf, so which shelf would The Flight of Gemma Hardy go on.
M - Gosh. Well, I can say with confidence that it’s not a thriller or a mystery.. I hope it belongs on that shelf of good entertaining books that both carry us away from our own lives and let us see them a little differently.
D - Do you have any book signings or events at a Barnes & Noble, I’m sure many of the members and commenters here would love to meet you in person.
M - I am reading at the Barnes & Noble at 2289 Browadway, New York, NY at 7pm on Tuesday, February 7th. and would love to meet readers there.
D - Thank you again for answering my questions, and good luck with The Flight of Gemma Hardy
Please visit the author’s website here
view my review here
