I was lucky enough to be able to read and review Kate Beaufoy’s Another Heartbeat in the House ahead of its release earlier this month. I was particularly taken with the literary references within the novel and had the opportunity to quiz Kate on her literary inspiration. You can read the interview below.
Emma: In Another Heartbeat in the House, Eliza is the inspiration for Vanity Fair’s Becky. Which literary characters and classic writers have most inspired your work?
Kate: The literary heroines who have most inspired me tend to be the clever ones, the vixens who live on their wits. Moll Flanders, Scarlett O’Hara and, of course, Becky Sharp have all fought, scrambled and cheated their way through adversity and elbowed their way to the top.
As for the writers who have inspired me, they are too many to list: Austen and the Brontes spring immediately to mind, and I could read F. Scott Fitzgerald over and over again. But in the case of Another Heartbeat in the House, it’s Thackeray. His social satire is as pertinent today as it was when his ink was fresh on the nib. Vanity Fair is clever, irreverent and it still has the power to make me laugh out loud.
Emma: I love Edie and Ian’s friendship. Which writer would you most like to have been besties with?
Kate: I love this question! I think Anita Loos (who wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and is more famous for her fabulously witty screenplays than her published work) would have engaged my extrovert side, while Tove Jansson (creator of the Moomintrolls, but also the author of some beautiful adult fiction) would appeal to the introvert in me. I am lucky in real life to be besties with Marian Keyes, who is the perfect amalgamation.
Emma: Where did the inspiration for Milo’s voice come from? Is there a Milo in real life?
Kate: Yes, there is a Milo! But she is a cat. Miss Leeloo, my chocolate Burmese, has been my constant companion since, as a kitten, she used to snuggle up with me in bed when I was undergoing chemotherapy. She completely rocks a leash and harness, and accompanies me on walks in the remote part of the west of Ireland where I spend my downtime. However, I was aware that readers might not buy the idea of a cat trotting at Edie’s heels, so I gave her a dog instead – who insisted categorically that he was a ‘he’.
Emma: The literary references add a fascinating second layer to the story. What was it like mixing fact and fiction?
Kate: Completely intriguing – like a literary jigsaw puzzle! It afforded me no end of delight when I found that Eliza and Becky Sharp’s backstories could interweave quite seamlessly, and Thackeray’s own history provided a rich source of inspiration. The fact that he was married to such a beautiful, mad creature as Isabella, the fact that he required a governess to educate his daughters, the fact that Vanity Fair was written at a time of such exigency in his life – all combined to furnish me with a wealth of material. I absolutely loved writing Another Heartbeat, and I hope that shows.
Emma: As a former actress, which literary character would you most like to have played?
Kate: It will probably come as no surprise: Moll Flanders, Scarlett O’Hara or Becky Sharp!
In real life, the character I most loved playing was Nina in Chekov’s The Seagull, opposite Ciarán Hinds as Konstantin; also Juliet opposite Malcolm Douglas’s Romeo (reader – I married him.)
Kate is a fascinating writer and I really loved delving into her own love of literature. What about you lovely readers? Which character would you most like to be besties with? And which writers have inspired you the most?