This novel took me back to my roots in Art History - I worked for a while as an archivist at the National Arts Collection Fund and I based the little room in which Fen hides away on the one I used. She has to choose between two very different men - bizarrely, she ends up with the one I wouldn’t have chosen. But that’s characters for you - the author ultimately has little control. During this time, I fell pregnant with my first child. My hormones were all over the place. My four previous novels had all been pretty raunchy but Fen was (initially) OUTRAGEOUS. For the first time, my editor put thick red lines through many paragraphs and scribbled in the margins such gems as: “Yuck!” or “Tone it down, woman!” Fen had a change of cover design - and the model was none other than Sienna Miller.
Read the first chapter of Fen
Read a brief synopsis of Fen
See what happened to Fen next
[1991] - Freya gave up a PhD scholarship to write her first novel, Sally. For 4 years she turned deaf ears to parents and pals who pleaded with her to “get a proper job”. She went on the dole and did a succession of freelance and temping jobs to support “writing days” every now and then. During this time, she was rejected by many publishers and agents whose comments ranged from “you can’t start a book like that” (referring to Sally’s rather raunchy opening scene) to “I like your idea but can’t stand your style”. Undeterred, she started Chloë as soon as she finished Sally. In 1996 she approached one of the UK’s top literary agents, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown Ltd. Throwing caution to the wind, Freya sent him 3 chapters and a page of completely fabricated reviews, which she wrote on behalf of the Sunday Times, Jilly Cooper and Germaine Greer. Lloyd took her on and put her work up for auction.
[1996] - 5 publishers enter a bidding war for Freya’s books. A three-book deal for a six figure sum is the result. Sally is published to great acclaim and Freya is heralded a fresh voice in fiction.
[1997] - Chloë doubles Sally’s release figures and is a Sunday Times bestseller.
[1998] - Polly spends 14 weeks in the original Fiction Top 10. The film rights are sold and the paperback goes straight onto the Sunday Times Top 10 at no.5.
[1999] - Freya’s 4th novel Cat is published in November. Set around the Tour de France, Freya’s research took her deep down to the secrets behind the Lycra.
Freya’s books are translated into five languages. In Holland, she is called the Literary Spice Girl and her books are hailed “better than viagra”. Her fan base is wide, ranging from teenage girls to elderly gentlemen worldwide.
[2000] - in June, Cat is released in mass market paperback. Fen is being written. Pip is being researched. Freya is involved with the Daphne Du Maurier Festival and the Edinburgh International Literary Festival as well as many other book festivals from Bodmin to Bracknell.
[2001] - Freya’s 5th novel, Fen, is published in October. Her son, Felix, was born on Easter Sunday, 15th April 2001.
[2002] - Freya spends the summer writing Pip. Fen is published in paperback in late September and goes straight into the charts, peaking at no.4. Freya is now safely into her second pregnancy with the baby due in early February. Pip is completed late November and Freya and her family move house a couple of weeks later.
[2003] - Georgia Jeannette born on 4th February 2003 at 10.45 pm, weighing 7 lbs 14 0z. Pip is published in August. Freya starts her 7th novel, Love Rules, featuring the adventures of two best friends - new characters, plus the reappearance of Sally.
[2004] - Pip is published to great success in paperback. Freya completes Love Rules and follows her editor to HarperCollins. Freya is now hard at work on no8 – which reunites Cat, Fen and Pip McCabe.
[2005] - Love Rules is published around Valentine’s Day and then in paperback later in the year. The novel is a Top10 bestseller, breaking all Freya’s previous sales records. Home Truths, Freya’s 8th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 9th…
[2006] - Home Truths is published in March and stays in the Original Fiction Top10 for over 3 months. The book becomes a paperback bestseller in the autumn, making the national Top 10 and riding high over the Christmas period. Pillow Talk, Freya’s 9th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 10th…
[2007] - Pillow Talk is published in August to great acclaim, going straight into the Original Fiction Top Ten. The tenth novel is underway - and waiting for a title.
[2008] - on 4th February, Pillow Talk is published in paperback and wins the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Georgia turns 5 years old on the same day. It’s a career highlight for Freya, with lots of TV and press to do but soon enough she’s back in the library, completing the 10th novel, Secrets.
[2009] - Secrets will be published as an exclusive airport edition in February, and in paperback in May. Freya thought she needed a rest…but now she’s planning her 11th novel - and a couple of top secret projects too… watch this space!
This time of year is usually Launch Party time – but this year, I just didn’t feel like having one. I’m ever so proud of Home Truths but it was written at a time when shitty things were happening and it felt inappropriate to have an unabashed knees-up. 2005 had it’s ups and downs for me. I lost two people very special to me, to cancer. My father-in-law, David Sutcliffe, died in May and my beautiful friend Liz Berney died on Christmas Eve. They both loved coming to my launch parties – Liz in particular had a very entertaining knack of upstaging me on my big night. I just don’t feel like partying at the mo’.
Liz was perhaps the most sociable – and widely loved – person I’ve ever met. She made friends with such ease and people gravitated to her because she was such fun, so energetic and daffy and sensitive and kind. She was a member of a reading group – though she was usually far too busy and scatty to ever actually read the book in discussion! One time, she picked my 5th book, Fen, as her choice for the group. Sure enough, an hour or so before the group was due to gather, Liz phoned me for the low-down on the plot, the characters…and the ending! (more…)
Fen McCabe, at 28, has only ever been in love with one man. To her sisters’
exasperation, he’s a 19th-century sculptor called Julius Fetherstone.
Starting a new job at Trust Art, Fen dreams of her hero and his missing
masterpiece. Her family and friends hope that she might just meet a living,
breathing man instead.
Matt Holden, turning 30, edits Trust Art’s magazine. Newly single, he’s
under instruction from his flatmate, the rakish Jake, to stick to flings with
no strings attached. But then he meets Fen…
James Caulfield, not quite 50, is forever fending off the advances of the
women he gardens for in Derbyshire and forever fending off his bank manager.
To improve his finances, he must sell the small Fetherstones he owns. Who
better to advise him than Fen?
From the hustle and bustle of London to the tranquil beauty of Derbyshire,
Fen develops her own north-south divide. Sexual attraction, sculpture and
severe indecision collide. Is it possible to fall in love with two very
different men at the same time
Read more about what happened to Fen
Well, on February 4th 2003, Georgia Jeannette came flying into this world (I’m not exaggerating). I had one contraction at 9.30 pm. I went upstairs to hang out the washing. I had another contraction at 9.35 pm and after that I couldn’t speak, let alone stand upright to load the dishwasher! My brother arrived at 10 pm to look after Felix and we arrived at hospital with just under 20 minutes to go. My language was choice and colourful to say the least but no one seemed to mind! The lovely midwife (hullo Charlotte) kept me sane by cleverly pretending that Epidural Man was just round the corner. Actually, there was no time even for any gas-and-air, let alone something stronger. The yoga ball, my whale-music cd’s, my aromatherapy candle, my extremely expensive facial spritzer, didn’t even make it into the hospital! I can safely say I have now done the Natural Birth/ Earth Mother thing… In fact, when Georgia was born and Andy told me we had a daughter, I hadn’t a clue what he was on about. It had all happened so quickly I really didn’t have the chance to realize I was in labour - let alone that I now had my second child and was no longer pregnant! Our little girl is an absolute poppet - please indulge me putting so many photos of her on the website!
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