Vita Sackville-West is famous for many things. She was the daughter of Lionel Edward Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville, and his wife, Victoria Sackville-West. She was married to Harold Nicolson, a diplomat, journalist, broadcaster, Member of Parliament and author. She lived in Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, and created the beautiful gardens now opened to the
View of the Gulf of St Tropez with a cruise liner in the distance. These cruise liners that go up and down the bay day and night have always made me dream. As the big picture window in my bedroom overlooks the sea, I am able to see from my
Elvis Presley, James Dean, Robert Pattinson, George Clooney, Leonardo di Caprio, Brad Pitt… all teenagers dream of talented and handsome actors, and as a young girl I was no different. There were many actors I admired whom I had seen on television and at the movies, but my favourite for
In Burning Embers twenty-five-year old Coral returns home to her birthplace, a Kenyan plantation, where she is reunited with Aluna, her old yaha – her nanny from childhood. It’s a poignant reunion for the two, who were torn apart many years ago when Coral’s parents divorced. Coral allows Aluna to
When I was a girl my family used to visit a cabin in a place called Montazah. It was an idyllic spot away from the bustling city – woods, green gardens and the sparkling Mediterranean on our doorstep. My sister, my cousins and I would have a blissful time during
I have recently discovered the social media site Pinterest, which allows you to collate your favourite images and share them with followers. I think of myself as a visual writer – I’m inspired by things I see, and in turn I try to describe scenes carefully so that a reader
The following interview was published on Omnific Publishing’s website. Omnific: Burning Embers is set in such an amazing landscape that it becomes almost a character in the story. What was your inspiration for writing Burning Embers? Hannah Fielding: Burning Embers began not as a story, but as a vivid landscape
As a young girl I attended a convent school run by French nuns (interestingly, all had once been Jewish but converted to Catholicism). The nuns were passionate about French literature, and so I was brought up on the likes of Balzac, Flaubert, Proust and Hugo. But it was 19th-century poet Leconte
There have been several moments in my life that have had such resonance that I’ve found myself pausing, smiling and looking back over my journey to that point. My first lone journey abroad as a young woman to live in London. My first kiss. The first dance at my wedding.
This is the ferry that brings be back to Kent from France. And here is the view of the white cliffs of Dover I see from the ferry – such an awesome sight.
I’m a romantic, I’m a woman and I’m a writer – and I’m privileged to be able to combine these three aspects of myself in my passion, authoring romance novels. But as a recent Huffington Post article reminded me, not all female writers have had the opportunity to write as themselves;
In any book, the main characters go on a journey. It would be a dreary book indeed if the characters learnt nothing! Although fate plays a part, the characters have free will and they must choose the path of their journey. Love is a gift, but the recipient must actively
Sunsets and sunrises in the south of France are simply breathtaking. They inspire me a lot in my romance writing. Here is a selection of photos taken near my home in France. [imagebrowser id=4]
Spring is here, but the weather is wobbling between wintry and warm. So what to cook in such temperamental weather? Take a leaf from those who live in Kenya, the setting of my novel Burning Embers, and dish up a curry. Curry is traditionally associated with India, but in fact
This week I have discovered a whole new world: Goodreads. What a wonderful website! Such a vast, welcoming community of like-minded book lovers, keen to share recommendations and talk about books they’ve read. My ‘to read’ list is completely out of control, now, thanks to all the marvellous books I’ve
British people are traditionally seen as reserved, formal, bearers of stiff upper lips. But a survey this week revealed that in fact beneath the cool exterior run torrenting rivers of passion to equal those of our Mediterranean neighbours. The survey, commissioned by erotic publisher Xcite Books, found that despite the
Subscription is very much in vogue. Rather than create a collection of audiobooks, you can subscribe to Audible and take your pick. Rather than stack DVDs high on your shelves, you can subscribe to NetFlix and work your way through boxsets. Rather than build a library of books, you can
My latest novel, Indiscretion, is set in Andalusia, Spain, in the 1950s. There, the Spaniards live still under the long shadow cast by the civil war from 1936 to 1939, and under the control of the dictator Franco. I characterise it in the book as a conservative country, not to
My new novel, Indiscretion, is set in 1950s Spain.The story of love and families, lies and indiscretions, is steeped in the culture of Andalusia. Of course I could not write a book set in that time and place without weaving in the most emblematic and masterful of Spanish archetypes, the
My favourite work of English literature is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. For the Gothic feel, the Byronic hero, the mystery and suspense, the poetic writing style, but above all the passion: Do you think I am an automaton? – a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my
From the blurb: Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected. The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbours treacherous. And there
I’m delighted to be able to share with you today the cover for my new book, Masquerade. It is available for preorder now from Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Before the digital revolution, book buying was a business requiring thought and commitment. When you bought a book, you were serious about reading that book, because it had cost you a fair amount of money. In addition, it was a physical object that existed in your home as evidence of
… and you won’t end with a whimper. Common writing advice, based on the final stanza of TS Eliot’s poem ‘The Hollow Men’: This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. Interviewers often ask me what part of the writing process I find the
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