How have your reading preferences changed over time?
There was a time when I would become obsessed with everything an author did. I would read anything that piqued my interest, and whereas I would once continue to read to the end even when my interest started to wane, now I quickly finish a book unless it completely draws me in.
When you published your solo Maisie Dobbs novel after the 17th, did you think that was the end of the series?
I published my first solo book, The Care and Management of Lies, in 2014. My second solo book, The White Lady, is due to be published in 2023. It was the last book in a three-book contract, so the publication date was set. I’ve known for years that The Comfort of Ghosts would be the last in the series. I’m glad there was a gap between books 17 and 18. The timing was just right.
If you were to write in a genre other than mystery, what would you choose?
I’ve written other fiction and non-fiction, including my autobiography, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing, as well as commissioned articles and essays. Perhaps that’s why the word “genre” feels so limiting: my novels to date are a mix of war stories, historical fiction, and mysteries. Some of the best fiction I’ve read, covering political intrigue, environmental issues, relationships, mental illness, immigration, history, and pop culture, has been written by “mystery” authors.
Who was your most helpful source in getting the history right?
I’ve interviewed brilliant archivists, historians and psychologists; I spent hours in the archives of the Imperial War Museum in London; I walked the World War I battlefields of the Somme and Ypres; I visited the former concentration camp at Dachau; and I stepped (and quickly walked) into Hitler’s former headquarters in Munich. Looking back, at the heart of my curiosity about the effects of war on ordinary people is the story of a family – and the “who”, you might say, is my family.
