How have your reading tastes changed over time?
I used to go through phases when I would dive into everything by one author. I read anything that piques my curiosity, though whereas once I would continue to the bitter end even if I was losing interest, now I bail out sooner unless a book has me firmly in its clutches.
When you published a stand-alone after your 17th Maisie Dobbs novel, did you think you were done with the series?
I published “The Care and Management of Lies,” my first stand-alone, in 2014. My second stand-alone, “The White Lady,” was published in 2023. It was the final novel in a three-book contract, so the publication date was set in stone. I had known for years that “The Comfort of Ghosts” would be the last in my series. I’m glad there was a gap between the 17th and 18th novels — the timing felt right.
If you were to write in another genre besides mystery, what would it be?
I have written other fiction and nonfiction, including my memoir, “This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing,” and I write articles and essays on assignment. That’s probably why I find the word “genre” so limiting, because thus far my novels are a blend of war story, historical fiction and mystery. Some of the best fiction I’ve read — encompassing political intrigue, environmental issues, human relationships, mental illness, immigration, history, pop culture — was authored by “mystery” writers.
Who has been your most helpful resource for getting the history right?
I’ve interviewed some brilliant archivists, historians and psychologists. I’ve spent hours in the archives at the Imperial War Museum in London, and I’ve trekked across the WWI battlefields of the Somme and Ypres, visited the former camp at Dachau and walked into (and very quickly out of) Hitler’s former HQ in Munich. Upon reflection, it’s family stories that reside at the heart of my curiosity about war’s impact on ordinary people — so you could say the “who” has been my family.
