My guest today is Beverley Harvey who, like me, grew up on Enid Blyton. Her career has spanned working as a receptionist, a PA, a PR, a media consultant, a copywriter and a dog walker – all roles which helped inspire her first two novels, Seeking Eden (2017) and Eden Interrupted (2019) published by Urbane Publications. Born in Yorkshire, but raised in Kent, Beverley has spent her adult life in London and the South East – until recently, when she and her partner moved to Chichester.
Hi Bev how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
B: Thank you, Anne. That’s very kind. I often love a vodka martini but as the weather’s so glorious I’ll take a chilled Sauvignon Blanc Blush, please. Will you join me?
I certainly will. So where did we first meet in real life?
B: At an Urbane drinks party in November 2016 at the Phoenix Arts Club, and happily a couple of times since then. I met so many wonderful Urbane authors that night and was completely awestruck to be surrounded by such talent.
That was a wonderful party. First impressions?
B: Big cheeky smile, deep, musical voice and lots of quite naughty laughter. I thought: there’s a girl who knows how to enjoy herself! You were very welcoming to a then unpublished author. You and several others were so kind to me that night and it meant a great deal.
Naughty laughter? I wonder if that was a point in common?
B: There are others. In addition to both being published by Urbane and our mutual love of books, two words: South London! Before I “moved out” in 2007, I’d lived there most of my adult life. We also share a love of animals and have both been scarred by losing dogs we adored.
Yes we have but you have an adorable terrier now. I haven’t taken the plunge to adopt another canine friend. Unlike you I haven’t included a dog as a character in my books. How’s life on the book front in these strange times?
B: I’ve just celebrated the first birthday of Eden Interrupted, my second in a series that takes a wry look at family life on a prosperous, modern housing estate.
B: Plus I recently signed a two-book contract with Bookouture so I’m currently working across two psychological thrillers – editing one, whilst writing the other from scratch. It is a new experience for me, but I’m getting there. The first of these will publish in November 2020.
Congratulations. Looking forward to when we can enjoy festivals again, what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
B: I would love to be in a room with Louise Beech, Louise Candlish, Cara Hunter and Gillian Flynn to talk thrillers and the art of suspense and scaring people. I adore these authors and could learn so much from them.
Fabulous choice. And what are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
B: Ah, that’s a no-brainer, Anne. Hugging my brother and sister. I haven’t seen either since early March and we’re a close family.
Hugs are so important aren’t they? I have just been able to join my daughter and her family in a “bubble” and the joy of being able to be with them is overwhelming. Is there anything lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
B: I’ve realised just how much I enjoy my partner’s company and I marvel that we never run out of things to talk about. Friends and family are everything – the rest is just set dressing and easy to suspend for a while.
That’s lovely to hear, Bev.
B: Gosh, Anne, so lovely to chat over a drink, but we made short work of those. Must be my round. Same again?
Thank you, and thank you so much for joining me in the Cocktail Lounge.
You can find out more about Beverley Harvey here and follow her on Twitter @BevHarvey_
I was fascinated by Exquisite (Orenda Books) by Sarah Stovell. The novel centres on the affair which develops between Bo Luxton, a best selling author who is married with two children living in the Lake District and Alice Dark a young aspiring writer in a dead end job and relationship in Brighton. They meet at a workshop run by Bo and their friendship develops via emails and then Alice’s visits to the author. The story is brilliantly told from both viewpoints and both characters are unreliable in their narration. Totally absorbing .
In The Cruelty of Lambs (Urbane Publications) Angelena Boden tackles the complicated issue of domestic abuse. Her main characters – Ian and Una – are well drawn and the plot moves along at a cracking pace. The narrative switches from Ian, a cellist who lost his teaching job when wrongly accused of inappropriate behaviour, to Una, a high-flyer who stands to lose the business she built up. Financial ruin faces them but their reactions couldn’t be more different. The supporting characters – friends of the couple who become entangled in the situation – are realistic and their concerns are credible. A thought-provoking and often disturbing read which challenges your preconceptions.
If you like a sexy and mature romantic read, you’ll love Seeking Eden by Beverley Harvey (Urbane Publications). Kate and Neil decide to move out of London after they are burgled and settle into a new, up-market housing estate. But Neil’s job is still in the capital and he spends some of the week staying over at a friend’s flat leaving Kate to her own devices and her new neighbours and Ben – the boyfriend who had walked out on her years ago and now wants to rekindle their relationship… A good contemporary read with well-drawn characters.
One of my favourite recent reads is My Name is Lucy Barton (Penguin), my first foray into Elizabeth Strout’s fiction. I love a first person narrative when it’s told well, and this one is perfection told by Lucy Barton, from her hospital bed, reminiscing about her family and their poverty, which isolated them from the community where they lived. Lucy moved up in the world and became estranged from her parents but it is her mother’s unexpected vigil in the hospital room that helps Lucy reassess her past and move towards a different future. A short but totally absorbing read.