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CHRISTINA:
I first became a fan of Gill Hornby back in the spring of 2020 when her novel Miss Austen was released. There was much chatter about it in all the Austen social media groups, and my guest reviewer Sophia Rose was fortunate to receive an advance copy for review. Now, that very novel is a four-part historical TV series, starring Keeley Hawes and Jessica Hynes. Imagine my delight when Gill agreed to this interview!
You are living every author’s fantasy with your novel, Miss Austen, adapting into a television series. How did that come about?
GILL: Luck! So much of a writer's life comes down to fate. There are so many brilliant authors out there who never quite make it; so many great books that never get onto the screen. I've had books optioned before—that's the easy bit. But it's a long journey from option into production, and very few projects are actually made. And often, once they get there, they bear little to no relation to the original product. It was pure chance that the producer Christine Langan saw Miss Austen in manuscript and snapped it up. And then it was honestly a thing of wonder to watch her hire the best writer, director, and actors to bring it to life. The only worry I have with the TV series is that it might be a bit better than my little book! As you say: every author's fantasy. I've loved every minute.
CHRISTINA: That is remarkable. You must pinch yourself every morning that you aren't dreaming! And I am all for more Austen-themed books going to film. Congratulations! I think I need to organize a watch party with my book club.
What other milestones have you set for yourself?
GILL: Heaven's above! None at all, I don't think. Life is enough of a challenge without one throwing obstacles into one's own path. You just have to sniff your way through it, is my philosophy—take the moments as they come, and live on your wits.
CHRISTINA: When did you first think you had a book to write and how did you start?
GILL: I have been a very late developer all my life. I have always written professionally—first in current affairs TV, then book reviews and newspaper features and columns—but not in a particularly dedicated way. I had four children to raise, and they get in the way. They got in my way, anyhow! As Jane Austen herself said: it is impossible to compose with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb. It didn't occur to me to even try and write fiction until I was into my fifties. My youngest child was then in school, and I was perfectly cheerful writing a weekly column for a daily paper. Then—the cheek of it! —they sacked me. The only response I could come up with was to write my first novel. I'm now 65 and have just submitted my fifth.
CHRISTINA: I'm sorry you were sacked, but that old adage "when one door closes, another opens" couldn't be more apt! And you are such an inspiration to me, knowing you only started your literary career in your fifties.
What comes first: plot or characters?
GILL: For me, it's all about character. I'm not a great plotter, and often, I have to superimpose plot upon a draft, which is more of a long string of scenes. Though I've much preferred writing my last three—Miss Austen, Godmersham Park, and the upcoming The Elopement—because they are all based on real lives, so it's all been done for me. But I write to explore characters and, particularly, relationships. The way we are all impacted by the people in our lives—how our characters are changed by their own—is my fascination.
CHRISTINA: Ooh, another novel! Marking October 7 in the diary for my must-read list. I am here for more Austen! Like Mr Darcy, “I cannot comprehend the neglect of a family library in such days as this.” As 2025 is Austen’s 250th birthday year, we are spoiled with Austen-themed books, art, events, and celebrations. Yes, please.
Do you put people you know, or their characteristics, in your book?
GILL: Oh yes—all the time! That's one reason why it's useful to have a few decades under your belt—you've studied more people, and they never cease to astonish or amuse. And nobody has ever noticed that their little foible has ended up in my work. My first novel, The Hive, was about a gang of mothers at an elementary school. Its central figure was a monster, who bullied and controlled her social group. Naturally, I based her almost entirely on the monster who was in control of my social group at the time. Indeed, I confess that whole scenes were based on real stuff that had happened. And guess what—she never suspected a thing. That's the thing about monsters: they don't know that they are monsters. They all think they're kinda great.
CHRISTINA: Ha! That reminds me of the meme about being nice to authors or you might find yourself the villain in their next book. I totally agree. (In my own unpublished manuscript, some of my favorite, most authentic characters came partly from real life.)
What do you think makes a good story?
GILL: Family. All the way. I only really read books about families, and in life I'm mainly only interested in families. You put a collection of four, six, or eight people together in one house, tie them for life, and just watch what happens. It's one long plot twist—fortunes rising and falling, love, tragedy, and war. And, of course, endless comedy. To quote Austen again: three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on. She's right on that, as she was right on most things. It's the basis of every long-running soap opera
CHRISTINA: If you could tell your 21-year-old self anything, what would you share?
GILL: That—as long as your health holds up—life is long. You don't have to decide or announce to the world who you are and what you want to do and be. Times will change and you will change with them. I never dreamed of being a novelist in my twenties and thirties, but then I had nothing to say. One continues to learn long after one has left education. You don't form your worldviews until you have lived for a while. I had thought older people were just old and that was that—once I was in my 60s, I'd be withering away. In fact, here I am—barely begun!
CHRISTINA: And such an inspiration, too.
If you could have dinner with three people, who would be at your table—and how might that go?
GILL: It would be Jane Austen, Cassandra Austen—and me. I don't think I'd want to share it with anyone. When I was writing Miss Austen, it was a deeply private experience. I hadn't been commissioned. The editor I'd had for my first two contemporary novels didn't want it, and I just decided to do it anyway. I didn't show it to anyone while I was writing, as I was so terrified I was making a fool of myself. But the eighteen months I spent working on that was the happiest period of my working life. I was just alone with those two extraordinary women, trying to bring them to life—imagine how they spoke and felt and thought. When I finished—it sounds so pretentious, but I fear it is true—I found myself crying. Our private time was over, and I had to let it out into the world. So, an evening with those two would be my idea of heaven.
CHRISTINA: Indeed, that's a beautiful sentiment and totally understandable. I would hope for a quiet, intimate setting, too. Otherwise, you would be bombarded by paparazzi and grasping fans everywhere.
Thank you so much for your time and for sharing part of your remarkable writing journey. I am looking forward to seeing the Miss Austen series when it airs here in the US. Best wishes on your next book, The Elopement. I'm all anticipation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gill Hornby is the author of the novels Miss Austen, The Hive and All Together Now, as well as The Story of Jane Austen, a biography of Austen for young readers. She lives in Kintbury, England, with her husband and their four children.
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