Spring, 1950. Alexandra de Falla, a half-English, half-Spanish young writer abandons her privileged but suffocating life in London and travels to Spain to be reunited with her long-estranged family.
Instead of providing the sense of belonging she yearns for, the de Fallas are driven by seething emotions, and in the grip of the wild customs and traditions of Andalucia, all of which are alien to Alexandra.
Among the strange characters and sultry heat of this country, she meets the man who awakens emotions she hardly knew existed. But their path is strewn with obstacles: dangerous rivals, unpredictable events, and inevitable indiscretions. What does Alexandra's destiny hold for her in this flamboyant land of drama and all-consuming passions, where blood is ritually poured on to the sands of sun-drenched bullfighting arenas, mysterious gypsies are embroiled in magic and revenge, and beautiful dark-eyed dancers hide their secrets behind elegant lacy fans?
"Indiscretion"is a story of love and identity, and the clash of idealsin the pursuit of happiness. But can love survive in a world where scandal and danger are never far away?
Hannah Fielding is an
incurable romantic. The seeds for her writing career were sown in
early childhood, spent in Egypt, when she came to an agreement with
her governess Zula: for each fairy story Zula told, Hannah would
invent and relate one of her own. Years later – following a degree
in French literature, several years of travelling in Europe, falling
in love with an Englishman, the arrival of two beautiful children and
a career in property development – Hannah decided after so many
years of yearning to write that the time was now. Today, she lives
the dream: writing full time at her homes in Kent, England, and the
South of France, where she dreams up romances overlooking
breath-taking views of the Mediterranean.
To date, Hannah has
published three novels: Burning Embers, ‘romance like
Hollywood used to make’, set in Kenya, 1970; the award-winning
Echoes of Love, ‘an epic love story that is beautifully
told’ set in turn-of-the-millennium Italy; and Indiscretion,
her fieriest novel yet, set in 1950s Spain.
If you
could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
I am not sure how easy
I would find it to co-write, but I would love to brainstorm ideas and
learn from literary greats like Charlotte Bronte and Daphne du
Maurier. My favourite writer of all time is MM Kaye, author of The
Far Pavilions, so it would be wonderful to work with her. I can
imagine us talking for hours in a scenic spot over cups of tea,
sharing our experiences of travelling – she lived in Egypt, for
example, where I grew up, and Kenya, a country I so fell in love with
that I set my debut novel, Burning Embers, there.
What is
the hardest part of the writing for you?
The most challenging
parts for me are writing the opening paragraph and the closing
paragraph. The first must encourage the reader to continue his or her
journey into the novel, to want to get to know the characters and
their story; and the second must leave the reader with a feeling of
contentment and maybe a tinge of melancholy because the voyage has
come to an end and it is as if he or she is saying farewell to a
friend.
What
would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
I write everyday.
Writing is my life and also a job – a very enjoyable job.
I wake up very early,
and do my chores first thing. After a cup of passion-fruit tea, in
the morning I start off by looking at my online marketing on Twitter
and Facebook for an hour or so. Then most days I sit at my desk and
work through the day, with an hour for lunch and errands. I take some
time in the afternoon for a long walk when I’m dreaming up a plot.
In my home in Kent, I
write in a wood-panelled room, surrounded by books – we call it the
library. In France, I write overlooking the most fabulous
view of the Mediterranean from a large picture window in my bedroom,
or if it is not too hot, outside in our gazebo. I really can’t
complain!
When
and why did you first start writing?
Stories and writing
have always been part of my life. My father was a great raconteur and
my governess used to tell the most fabulous fairy stories – I could
listen to them for hours. When I was seven she and I came to an
agreement: for every story she’d tell me, I would invent one in
return. That is how my passion for storytelling began.
At school I
consistently received first prize for my essays and my teachers often
read them aloud in class. As a teenager I used to write short
romantic stories during lessons and circulate them in class, which
made me very popular with my peers (but less so with the nuns!). In
addition, since a young age I have kept some sort of a diary where I
note my feelings, ideas and things that take my fancy (or not).
My grandmother was a
published author of poetry and my father published a book about the
history of our family, so writing runs in my veins. I guess I always
knew that one day I would follow in those footsteps and forge my own
path in that field – a subconscious dream which finally came true.
How
did you come up with the idea for your book?
My romance
with Spain began when I was in my early teens after I saw a
film called Pleasure Seekers. The wonderful setting and
atmospheric music made me dream and triggered my imagination. Then
once I had visited that beautiful country, the seeds
for Indiscretion were sown.
Are you
a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
Apart from the longs
hours of reading I do for my research, I read almost anything; but I
love to read romantic novels most of all (the thicker, the better). I
also enjoy reading mystery books, psychological thrillers, books
about customs and traditions in various countries, books of
quotations and dictionaries. I read every night before going to sleep
at the rate of one chapter a night.
The last book I read
was The Amber Keeper by Freda Lightfoot – I love family
sagas. I am now reading The Dressmaker’s Daughter by Nancy
Carson.
Do you
have any advice for other aspiring writers?
If the desire, the
discipline and the time required for the project are all there, then:
First and foremost,
write from the heart. Be true to yourself and don’t
compromise to please the market. Markets change, fads come and
go; your work will remain.
Research your facts
thoroughly. A writer today has no excuse for not getting
his/her facts right. Use all the tools available to you. Travel,
internet, books, films, documentaries: they’re all there to enrich
your experience and make your writing journey easier.
Plan your novel down
to the smallest detail. This will make your writing so much
easier and therefore so much more enjoyable. A plan is your
map. Would you set out on a long journey by car without a map?
Read, reread and
reread. Edit, edit, edit. Go through your manuscript
again and again and edit it. I know that it will break your heart to
delete a phrase or even one word you have spent time agonising over,
but sometimes less is better than more. Not easy advice to follow,
but in the long run it does work. If you can leave the
manuscript alone for a few weeks and revisit it at a later date,
reading it as if it were someone else’s, than that’s even better.
Do not get
discouraged. Continue to write whether you think your work
is good or bad. There is no bad writing. There are good days and bad
days. The more you write, the better you get.
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