Lime Park is in the outer suburbs of south London but could certainly be in any affluent/up-and-coming area of the capital or the south-east. For me it has elements of Herne Hill (where I live), Putney, Balham, Crystal Palace and Telegraph Hill or Honor Oak. The key is the mix of people: the originals, who have lived there since before gentrification; the wealthy ‘entitleds’ who discovered the area next and are now bedded in and nicely complacent about their ‘hidden gem’; and a new wave of incomers, like Christy and Joe, who can’t quite afford it but aspire to the lifestyle and set of attitudes it offers.
In the novel, Christy finds out some dark secrets about her seemingly idyllic new neighbourhood – where did your inspiration for the story come from?
It’s hard to tell you without giving away the dark secrets. Let’s just say that I was interested in exploring a crime that hinges on one person’s word against another’s. I was interested in the damage one person can inflict on another, how a life can very casually be utterly destroyed. However, my main inspiration for the story was the property market in the south-east. I’m very turned off by this notion of the forever home and I wanted to show how hollow that dream can be. I wanted to write a cautionary tale. So all very positive, cheerful motives.
She’s out of work and has time on her hands; she’s lonely; she’s insecure. And she’s aspirational: she’s heard about the great sense of community on Lime Park Road and she wants to belong. Unfortunately, in this particular place, she must navigate the bewildering consequences of the reign of her predecessor, Amber Fraser.
As a local author, what are your favourite places in South London to visit to write about, or for inspiration?
I love our lidos (my next novel is set in one) and our parks. I love walking the Thames path, especially the stretch from Putney to Richmond. Like many writers, I’m inspired by domestic architecture, I like imagining the dramas going on behind the tranquil facades. I’m not so interested in prime central London; I like the inner and outer suburbs, the tribes that have gathered in the different neighbourhoods.
Do you have any advice for anyone looking to get published?
It’s the best time ever to be a writer in terms of getting your work out there, because there is now self-publishing in ebook form and it’s not at all necessary to go the traditional route (agent, publisher, hardback or paperback in bookshop). However, with that revolution has come a certain devaluation of writing and so it’s hard to make a living. I advise doing lots of research into the options and trying to retain as much control over your work as you can.
