Lesley Pearse – Q&A – From First Page to Last

Today I’m pleased to welcome Lesley Pearse to the blog. Lesley is the best selling author over twelve novels including The Belle Trilogy, Without a Trace, Remember Me and Never Look Back, with her novels selling over 10 million copies worldwide. Her latest novel, Dead to Me, was published by Penguin on 4th May 2017.

Lesley kindly answered some of my questions.

1. Tell us a little about Dead to Me.

Ruby and Verity, two young girls from vastly different backgrounds, become friends against all odds. Fate conspires to shatter their friendship, just as the war is destroying huge parts of London, but maybe there is enough retained affection between them to try to get back all they’ve lost.

2. What inspired the book?

My own teenage memories of South London, and friendships I’ve had and lost.

3. Are you a plan, plan, plan writer or do you sit down and see where the words take you?

I just sit and write. I don’t plan anything.

4. You have written a number of novels over the years, with many of them being bestsellers. Is there still anything about the process of creating a novel that still surprises you?

Only how hard it can be sometimes!

5. What do you do when you aren’t writing? What do you do to relax and get away from it all?

I read, garden, walk the dog, visit friends.

6. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life which book would it be?

I suspect The Bible, there’s enough in it to keep my interest. . But please don’t let the supply of books run out.

7. I like to end my Q&As with the same question so here we go. During all the Q&As and interviews you’ve done what question have you not been asked that you wish had been asked – and what’s the answer?

What did I want to be when I grew up is the question I wish I was asked. The answer is I’m not sure I’ve really grown up yet, but all I ever wanted to be was a wife and mother. Odd really as I was a story teller right from a five year old.

About the book:

Two very different women, one unlikely friendship. In the chaos of war-torn Britain, can any relationship survive?

Dead to Me is a story about loyalty, love and the strength of friendship in the face of adversity, from international number one bestselling author Lesley Pearse.

Spring 1935. Two girls meet by chance on Hampstead Heath. To an outsider, they could not appear more different. Verity is well-mannered and smartly dressed, living with her parents in a beautiful house close to the heath. Ruby is dishevelled and grubby, used to a life of squalor where she is forced to steal to survive. Yet there’s an instant affinity between them, and when their fortunes are shockingly reversed, it is the strength of their friendship that keeps them resilient to the challenges and hardships they face.

As Britain prepares for war, Ruby finds herself in Devon with the world at her feet and enjoying her first taste of romance. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Verity is forced to leave behind everything she has ever known and a shadow from the past threatens her chances of a new beginning. But through it all, the girls are always there for each other. Until the day Verity does the one thing that will break Ruby’s heart.

In a country torn apart by fighting, will Verity and Ruby survive long enough to find a way back to each other? Or do some betrayals go with you to the grave . . .?