To celebrate the release of her new book The Sapphire Cove, we asked author Sophie Anderson to let us in on some interesting facts all about the novel! Here's what she had to reveal...
1. The island Siquihor in the Philippines where part of the book is set, really is known for its black magic and witches. There is a ‘healing festival’ there once a year which I would love to visit – not least because it would make such a great setting for a book!
2. The kidney transplant in the book was inspired by my friend who recently donated her kidney to her husband. She shared her extraordinary story with me and helped to consolidate the medical facts for this book.
3. I wrote the stories of the three women separately and then wove them together afterwards – it meant that the overwhelming wordcount of a completed manuscript was so much less of a thing when divided by three.
4. I visited a guest house in the Philippines similar to the one in the story and it was one of the of happiest holidays of my life, swimming with turtles on Apo Island, spotting dolphins and firey sunsets on the beach. Re-visiting this whilst writing in January in lockdown was both tortuous and wonderful at the same time.
5. I wanted to call my daughter Romy and when I failed to convince my husband I tried again with each of our two female dogs, but was outvoted every time. So I have resorted to naming one of my characters Romy in this book instead!
6. My mother keeps asking if I am trying to tell her something because all of the mother/daughter relationships in my books are so fraught. I have tried to reassure her but I suspect in vain.
7. Flora’s scary experience of swimming in the freezing sea in the book is partly autobiographical and it inspired me to keep swimming in cold water throughout the year.
You can buy Sophie’s latest novel, The Sapphire Cove here: https://geni.us/B09LD9T3WPsocial
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