How far would you go to protect your secrets?
Greece, 1980
Emma takes part in a shattering, violent event. An event to which she is anything but an innocent bystander.
She is only eighteen, but this marks her fall from innocence.
It will haunt her for the rest of her life.
London, now
Kate has the perfect existence: a glossy image, a glamorous home, a perfect family.
But there are cracks.
All is not what it seems.
And now the two worlds are about to collide.
Somebody's out for revenge.
Someone who has been waiting thirty years...
One of the most popular features this year has definitely been the publisher feature weeks where the aim is to try and blitz through a backlog of reviews, although am going to be honest today and admit I might struggle this week as had a bit of a reading slump recently so only read a couple so far, as well as featuring authors and promoting books.
My first guest is bestselling author Julia Crouch whose latest book The Long Fall was published last week, welcome Julia.
Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book The Long Fall?
Set partly in 1980’s Greece and partly in the present, in London, the story is about how the past has a habit of catching up with you.
I’ve spent a lot of time wondering how you go on living a life if you are basically a decent sort of person but you have been responsible for the most atrocious act ever.
One of my characters, Kate, has a perfect life – she runs a charity, has a rich banker husband, perfect daughter, lovely house. But all is not as glossy as it may seem, and gradually her life is taken apart, piece by piece.
Where did the inspiration come from to set this partly in Greece?
I love Greece and whenever I get a chance I’m out there. On a superficial level, the idea of having to go to Ikaria (the island where the 1980 story is largely set) to research was very attractive. And I was actually in Athens and the islands in 1980, in my year off, when I backpacked aroud Europe on my own. It was a very intense time for me and I kept a diary, which I have plundered for The Long Fall – for the setting and mood, and some of the events – but not all, I hasten to add! I have even lifted passages verbatim.
My eldest son, Owen, has a Greek girlfriend, Eva, who, along with my Athenian friend Gabi, has been really helpful in helping me find Ikaria and with the Greek detail/translations. Ikaria was the perfect island because it’s supposedly where Daedalus buried his son Icarus after he fell into the sea when he flew too close to the sun – a perfect guiding metaphor for what goes on in the book. Also, it is still relatively untouristed, rocky and wild. My decision on the island was sealed when I was talking it over with Simon Trewin, my agent, and he said he had backpacked there himself as a teenager in the early 1980s – a very strange choice back then!
