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About The White Pearl:
As the glamorous wife of a plantation owner, Connie Hadley’s life appears pampered and comfortable. But she is hiding devastating secrets that could destroy her marriage.
Life is changed forever on the day of the infamous attacks on Pearl Habour.
As Japanese Zero aircraft attack the town of Pular, Connie takes the decision to flee to Singapore on the family’s boat, The White Pearl.
In desperation, short of food and constantly in danger, fear strips away good manners; tensions arise on the yacht and anger causes deadly divisions between friends.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
No. Unlike most of my writer friends, I had no burning desire to become an author when I was young, though I was always an avid reader.
Despite studying English at university, I came to writing late, and frankly I was astounded to find how much I adored it and how many others became passionate about my stories. That’s one of the joys of a website – instant reader feedback.
I might never have got round to writing at all if it weren’t that my husband was a crime novelist – Neville Steed. So the whole process of constructing a book was already demystified for me and I knew how to set about it. Now, I am totally hooked and would no more consider not writing than I would not breathing.
Where did the idea for The White Pearl come from?
My brother-in-law spent four years in a prisoner of war camp in Java and though he talked little of his experiences, the few incidents he did describe made my hair stand on end.
They haunted me for a long time and when I was researching China for my first book, The Russian Concubine, I started to read about Malaya too and became fascinated by this exotic and vibrant world.
One of the themes I am repeatedly drawn to in my books is how a small community reacts to sudden stress and trauma. I like to explore where the fracture lines open up, how relationships change when the veneer of civilisation is stripped away.
What more enclosed community could I find than on a boat? What greater stress could I inflict on them than a war and the stormy South China seas? I just sat back and watched my characters go for each other’s jugular.
Did The White Pearl end up where you thought it would when you started writing it?
Yes . . . and no. Yes, because I had established in my mind a skeleton for the plot, with the story following a pre-planned arc.
But no, because so much happened that I did not expect. That’s what makes writing so much fun – you never know what’s coming next.
Which character in The White Pearl did you enjoy writing the most?
That’s an unfair question! It’s like asking a mother to choose between her children. I loved writing them all. Each has something that endears her or him to me. But if you twist my arm, well . . . it has to be Connie. She is so complex.
A real challenge.
I loved seeing her develop as the story progressed, the events changing her so much that she reached out and grabbed life by the scruff of the neck.
But I also adored the young native girl, Maya, who virtually wrote herself.
She just scampered across the page with a will of her own, and words tumbled from her mouth that constantly took me by surprise. Her scenes zipped out as if they had nothing to do with me – which was weird.
What are you working on at the moment?
A new place. A new time. 1932 Egypt. A taut and complex story of a sister haunted by the loss of one brother, while she is searching for her other brother, an archaeologist, among the pyramids and desert of a bewilderingly alien and dangerous country.
It is set during the excitement following Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb, and draws Arthur Conan Doyle and Oswald Mosley into the convoluted twists and turns of the plot. I am very excited about it.
Which book do you wish you had written and why?
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Brilliant, devastating and so funny.
Look out for a giveaway coming up on our newsletter. Sign up for our book club newsletter and like our Facebook Page before the end of February and you could be one of 3 lucky readers who will each win a copy!
Alternatively, you can buy a copy of The White Pearl on Kalahari.com.
Author photo: Max Danby
As the glamorous wife of a plantation owner, Connie Hadley’s life appears pampered and comfortable. But she is hiding devastating secrets that could destroy her marriage.
Life is changed forever on the day of the infamous attacks on Pearl Habour.
As Japanese Zero aircraft attack the town of Pular, Connie takes the decision to flee to Singapore on the family’s boat, The White Pearl.
In desperation, short of food and constantly in danger, fear strips away good manners; tensions arise on the yacht and anger causes deadly divisions between friends.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
No. Unlike most of my writer friends, I had no burning desire to become an author when I was young, though I was always an avid reader.
Despite studying English at university, I came to writing late, and frankly I was astounded to find how much I adored it and how many others became passionate about my stories. That’s one of the joys of a website – instant reader feedback.
I might never have got round to writing at all if it weren’t that my husband was a crime novelist – Neville Steed. So the whole process of constructing a book was already demystified for me and I knew how to set about it. Now, I am totally hooked and would no more consider not writing than I would not breathing.
Where did the idea for The White Pearl come from?My brother-in-law spent four years in a prisoner of war camp in Java and though he talked little of his experiences, the few incidents he did describe made my hair stand on end.
They haunted me for a long time and when I was researching China for my first book, The Russian Concubine, I started to read about Malaya too and became fascinated by this exotic and vibrant world.
One of the themes I am repeatedly drawn to in my books is how a small community reacts to sudden stress and trauma. I like to explore where the fracture lines open up, how relationships change when the veneer of civilisation is stripped away.
What more enclosed community could I find than on a boat? What greater stress could I inflict on them than a war and the stormy South China seas? I just sat back and watched my characters go for each other’s jugular.
Did The White Pearl end up where you thought it would when you started writing it?
Yes . . . and no. Yes, because I had established in my mind a skeleton for the plot, with the story following a pre-planned arc.
But no, because so much happened that I did not expect. That’s what makes writing so much fun – you never know what’s coming next.
Which character in The White Pearl did you enjoy writing the most?
That’s an unfair question! It’s like asking a mother to choose between her children. I loved writing them all. Each has something that endears her or him to me. But if you twist my arm, well . . . it has to be Connie. She is so complex.
A real challenge.
I loved seeing her develop as the story progressed, the events changing her so much that she reached out and grabbed life by the scruff of the neck.
But I also adored the young native girl, Maya, who virtually wrote herself.
She just scampered across the page with a will of her own, and words tumbled from her mouth that constantly took me by surprise. Her scenes zipped out as if they had nothing to do with me – which was weird.
What are you working on at the moment?
A new place. A new time. 1932 Egypt. A taut and complex story of a sister haunted by the loss of one brother, while she is searching for her other brother, an archaeologist, among the pyramids and desert of a bewilderingly alien and dangerous country.
It is set during the excitement following Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb, and draws Arthur Conan Doyle and Oswald Mosley into the convoluted twists and turns of the plot. I am very excited about it.
Which book do you wish you had written and why?
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Brilliant, devastating and so funny.
Look out for a giveaway coming up on our newsletter. Sign up for our book club newsletter and like our Facebook Page before the end of February and you could be one of 3 lucky readers who will each win a copy!
Alternatively, you can buy a copy of The White Pearl on Kalahari.com.
Author photo: Max Danby
