We sat down with best selling author Florence Knapp to take a nosey through her bookshelves.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just finished Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore, which I thought was magnificent. The sense of isolation is breathtaking, and the psychology of the characters and sustained tension are all superb. It didn’t give me quite the ending I was hoping for, but it made me think a lot about the author’s reasons for that, which was perhaps as satisfying as being handed the conclusion I’d first craved.
How long did it take you to write your own book, The Names? And where did you write it?
I wrote The Names at home, mostly from my sofa. The first draft was relatively quick, but then I set it to one side for a while and, when I returned to it, I rewrote quite a bit of the second half based on my sister’s feedback.
Is there a memory that sticks out from this writing process?
I remember sitting down to write the epilogue, knowing I’d probably finish the first draft that day, and feeling such elation, but also anticipation, wondering if I’d manage to find the words that felt right to me. That section has the date at the top – it worked for the story to include it, but it also felt like a way of marking a moment in time for me personally, too.
Do you ramp up your own book-reading rate while writing your own?
I read pretty consistently, irrespective of what I’m working on. I find reading is often a little like gathering breadcrumbs, pausing to admire this sentence, that way of showing the reader something, what’s left unsaid. Mentally squirrelling these things away feels like a kind of nourishment that’s fundamental to hopefully becoming a better writer myself. But it’s also just so much fun to notice the craft in how a story is told.
What’s the first book you remember loving?
As a child, I was often drawn to books where animals were anthropomorphised. I adored Mary Raynor’s Garth Pig and the Ice-Cream Lady and can still picture the beautifully illustrated ten-piglet bicycle Garth Pig rides with his siblings. In the story, a wolf drives a VW camper van painted the colours of Neapolitan ice-cream, which I found both delicious and terrifying.
Could you say a book changed your life?
Oliver Burkeman’s non-fiction book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, was central to me reassessing my priorities and what I most wanted in life. A previous novel I’d written hadn’t found a publisher and acknowledging that our time here is finite was the push I needed to focus on trying again.
Is there a book that got you through a hard time?
I’m not sure I can name one specific book, but briefly inhabiting someone else’s reality and contemplating their anxieties and joys always leaves me feeling less alone.
What about a book you wish you’d written?
I never wish I’d written someone else’s book, but I have so much admiration for the way Curtis Sittenfeld reinvents herself as a writer – I’m a longstanding fan of her more serious fiction, but then she wrote Romantic Comedy, which is sparkling, witty, and just as impressive.
What book should be on every shelf?
There’s a children’s novel called Wonder by RJ Palacio, and I feel sure if we were all to read it at a formative age, the world would be a kinder place. I think it’s probably aimed at children aged 8 – 12, but I know many adults who’ve been moved by it too.
A book you listened to on Audible and loved?
Oh goodness, so many. Alan Murrin’s The Coast Road, Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South read by Juliet Stevenson, Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, Sarah Winman’s Still Life, Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet. There is just something so lovely about being read to.
The Names by Florence Knapp is published by Phoenix Books in Trade Paperback and is out now.