I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to interview Kayte Nunn, author of The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, again by the amazing team over at Hachette Australia. This was such a privlage as I love interviewing authors and finding out why they decide to write the book, their favourite authors and books and whether they have any more books in the works or can give us a sneak peek of the next book in the series if the book is part of one. So thank you very much for giving me this opportunity again Hachette Australia. You can see Kayte Nunn's answers to my questions below and if you want more information on the book check out my review in my previous post.
Q&A with Kayte Nunn
Congratulations on the release of your amazing new book The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant. For those who may not have heard of it yet how would you describe it?
It’s an impossibly love story, about the discovery of a cache of unsent love letters sixty years after they were written.
This book is heartfelt yet heartbreaking at the same time and tackles some difficult topics. What inspired you to write The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant and did you need to do much research?
I knew that my great-grandmother was confined to a mental asylum when she was a young mother, suffering from post-natal depression. I also learned that, until the early 1950s, a woman could be committed to such a place by her father or her husband, without her ever having been examined by a doctor. These facts started me thinking.
I did a fair amount of research on life in Britain in the 1950s, as well as listening to oral histories of returned servicemen via the Imperial War Museum. I also visited The Scilly Isles, which was very helpful in ensuring I got all of the details correct.
I absolutely adored the ending and think you have definitely wrapped the story up nicely. Did you ever consider a different ending for the book at all?
No, I wanted to ensure there was a sense of hope at the end, to show that Esther’s life had not been defined by her early tragedy, but also that the power of the love between Esther and Richard had never faded, despite the years.
I very much enjoy your amazing writing style and I have loved reading both The Botanist’s Daughter and now The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant. Do you have any more books in the works that you could give us all a hint about?
Yes, I am in the middle of edits for a book that will – I hope – come out next year, that is set in the silk weaving district of Spitalfields in London, and an English market town. There is herbalism, weaving, witchcraft and ghosts.
Finally something we will all definitely be interested in. What book are you currently reading and what book are you most excited to be released?
I have just finished The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie, which was excellent and a very worthy Stella Prize winner; I also recently loved Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Elizabeth Gilbert’s City of Girls has just been released and I can’t wait to read that. I also can’t wait to read Favel Parrett’s new novel, There Was Still Love, which comes out later this year as I am a big fan of her writing.
Information about Kayte Nunn
Kayte Nunn is a former book and magazine editor, and the author of two contemporary novels, Rose's Vintage and Angel's Share. The Botanist's Daughter was Kayte's first novel of transporting historical fiction, followed by The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, set largely in the atmospheric Isles of Scilly. If you would like to see the wonderful images inspired by the book, Kayte's Pinterest page is at: Pinterest.com.au/kaytenunn/the-forgotten-letters-of-esther-Durrant/ or you can find her at kaytenunn.com
Great interview, I really enjoyed this, thanks!
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