Where do you call home?
Home is a lovely, higgledy piggledy 18th-century cottage in the middle of a village in the Chalke Valley in Wiltshire. Over the years, the house has been added onto – a barn conversion here, a glass garden room there – so it is full of charm and character. We are in the middle of gorgeous countryside – the Cranborne Chase chalk downland is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – but a less than 15-minute drive from the pavements of Salisbury. Having been born and raised in London, that suits me and my husband – and, more to the point, our three teenage children – very well.
Is that where you do your best writing?
During lockdown, we finally got round to emptying a garage in our garden, which we had insulated and fitted with a big, glass picture window. It’s the perfect office, with plaster walls, a cork floor and light pouring in. I write in there every day, with our deaf rescue dog, Lyra, in a basket at my feet.
What is currently on your bedside table?
Twelve books! Some being read, some waiting to be read, some old favourites or poetry books that I like to pick up and dip into. At the moment, I am reading – and loving – The Safe Keep by a young Dutch writer called Yael Van Der Wouden. It’s a beautiful exploration of love and longing in the post Nazi-era Netherlands.
Describe the last item of clothing you bought…
I have recently become obsessed by Vinted and am thrilled with the white, cable knit Merino wool turtleneck – new with tags – from Celtic & Co, which I got for the bargain price of £40. The older I get, the more I enjoy knowing my own style. My only extravagance is Me & Em wide legged trousers the cut of which suits me perfectly. The rest now tends to be all second hand. For me (and hopefully many like me), the days of disposable fashion are over.
Which famous female do you most admire and why?
Can’t Buy My Silence founder, Zelda Perkins. Zelda worked for Harvey Weinstein when she was in her twenties. When she tried to speak out about his alleged harassment and sexual assault of a colleague, she reluctantly signed a non-disclosure agreement with Miramax that prevented her from speaking out. At the end of 2017, she publicly broke that agreement and, since then, has been using her own experience to shine a light on the improper use of NDAs. She has more integrity, and passion in her little finger than most people have in their whole body.
Where is your favourite hotel in the world?
La Guardia hotel on the Tuscan island of Giglio. My husband and I went there for our 20th wedding anniversary last September and it felt like being in a Fellini movie. Little coloured houses round a fairy lit port, the most beautiful sandy beaches only accessible by foot and the hotel itself – stylish and unpretentious, with Ortigia products in every bathroom – standing, like an elegant sentry, overlooking it all.
Which is your favourite season and why?
Summer for the long shadows, light evenings and the scent of flowers in the air. All my happiest memories, particularly of my children, are bathed in summer sunshine.
You have unexpected spare time on your hands: do you fill it with a podcast or a novel?
I love listening to podcasts while I’m doing chores – Louis Theroux’s interviews and anything gritty and investigative by Tortoise Media are particular favourites – but, for me, there’s no better feeling than curling up somewhere comfortable with a really good novel. More than watching television, more than almost anything, that’s when the world just stops.
What’s for dinner tonight and who is cooking it?
I’m cooking roast chicken, mashed potatoes and seasonal veg. It’s freezing cold outside and we all need a winter warmer. I’m not a very imaginative cook – innovation is more my husband’s area – but I am the go-to when it comes to comfort-food classics.
What is your most prized possession?
Apart from my children (whom I must remember that I don’t actually own), my most prized possession is second best to that… three charcoal portraits of them, drawn by the brilliant Jemma Phipps. If my house was burning, it would be those I would rush to save. She has captured the soul in each and every one of their gazes.
