Amita Murray

Author Interview - Amita Murray

Author of Unladylike Lessons in Love

This is the first novel in the Marleigh sisters Regency series. Lila Marleigh, the oldest daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress, owns and runs a gambling salon and all manner of men and women from the ton flock to it as night approaches. One night, a young woman - Maisie Quinn - who Lila has been searching for for years comes running to her for help. On the same night, the dashing Ivor Tristram accuses her of being his father's mistress. Enraging as the man is, Lila needs his assistance to help Maisie. Now the pair must navigate underground London - the streets of Whitechapel and the pleasure gardens of Vauxhall - to help Maisie. The mystery is hard to crack, but the biggest threat is to Lila's heart that she had guarded so carefully all her life. Each of the six novels in this series will focus on the life, loves and longings of one of the Marleigh sisters.

Author Interview - Amita Murray

Author I draw inspiration from:

This is a Regency series. I love, love, love Georgette Heyer and have come back to her long list of novels over and over in my life when I've needed comfort and fun. The world she created, the sparkling wit, the runaway horses, the intrigue and passion - these colour and affect my writing. The diversity Shonda Rhimes brought to Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels gave me the space to explore the diversity (not to mention, the underbelly) of Regency London in a way that I couldn't have imagined. Regency London was a much more diverse place than we imagine. There were people from Asia and Africa and the Americas living and working in the city. My novels have all the witty banter and high passion of a Regency - but I also explore diversity.

Author Interview - Amita Murray | Author I Draw Inspiration From

Favorite place to read a book:

ANYWHERE! On a train, on my sofa, in bed, walking around trying to do other things, in the loo.... I have way too many books. I keep getting more and more even though I have too many already. I LOVE second hand bookshops. I'm always running out of book space. I love exploring genres and diverse authors. Give me a novel with a square or two of chocolate and you've given me everything I need.

Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:

Maybe Yossarian from Joseph Heller's Catch-22. That is one clear-eyed guy. He can really see how ludicrous most of our institutions are. The rules, the bureaucracy, international politics, war, these are devastatingly awful things for our world. That's one character who could see this, who could cut through the crap and see what war and capitalism are really about.

Author Interview - Amita Murray | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With

The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:

I should have known all along. I was always scribbling in journals (and writing letters - yes, I'm old enough to have done that!) I was always staying up half the night reading. But I never thought I was creative enough to write fiction! I didn't have people around me who encouraged me to explore my creative hunger. I was on the path to becoming a full-time academic (I still work in universities) but feeling horribly creatively hungry and restless. Julia Cameron's work helped me explore this side of me. Once I started writing fiction, it was clear that whether I ever got published or not, this fever wasn't going away. I've done everything I could since then to honour and cherish my need to write.

Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:

PAPERBACK! This is becoming a problem for sure because I'm running out of space all the time. But that's reading for me. I don't have a problem with hardbacks, but there's nothing like a good old paperback. I love secondhand, slightly weathered books. They're so beautiful.

The last book I read:

Shannon Chakraborty's The City of Brass. And wow, what a book. The world building is exquisite. The character relationships are compelling. The writing feels effortless. She shows us this wonderfully realised world that you can't get enough of.

Author Interview - Amita Murray | The Last Book I Read

Pen & paper or computer:

I mostly write on my laptop. But I can write anywhere any time, on a train with pen and paper if I need to, ten minutes waiting to pick up one of my kids from somewhere or the other, notes on my phone if I have to. I also write in journals all the time. Writing is breathing. Words are food and drink. I wouldn't know who I am without reading and writing all the time.

Book character I think I’d be best friends with:

Max from Jodie Taylor's St Mary's series. I love her. She's funny, strong, fierce, restless, obsessive, always up for the next adventure. She sounds a bit too much like me though, so I don't know how the friendship would work or we'd strangle each other. But I'd love to get to know her. I read those novels over lockdown and the series will always have this odd otherworldly nostalgia for me.

Author Interview - Amita Murray | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With

If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:

Oh no, please don't say that. Even the thought makes me anxious. I also work as an academic and do workshops with staff and students around questions of social justice and how we can embed these in the arts. But writing is part of me. I can't do without it. I miss social engagements so I can burrow into my writing space and write. It's my 'cave', my happy place, the answer to every longing. I can't do without it. No, please don't make me think about this....

Favorite decade in fashion history:

Regency, of course! Fashion wasn't so strangled as it became later with corsets and hoops in the Victorian era. It was easier, with the high waist and frothy gauze and muslin dresses, the curls, the playfulness. And it wasn't just the women, it was the men too, with their velvet and lace and skin-fitting coats and trousers.

Place I’d most like to travel:

I live in London (though have also lived in the States and India) and love travelling around the UK - there are some gorgeous places right here. Cornwall has magical light. And I can walk in the Highlands endlessly. And I've travelled a lot in Europe. But next steps - Tokyo, Prague, Peru.

My signature drink:

A margarita. I always look through cocktail lists and go 'ooh' at everything and then always end up ordering a lime margarita. I had a blackberry and thyme one recently that was delicious.

Favorite artist:

Oh, so many. I admire what Rupi Kaur has done for insta poetry. I love Heather Havrilesky and Imi Lo's writing. As someone who always has intense feelings about everything, I love writers who write on this subject. I can't get too much of Jack Vettriano's 'people' art and Emma Jeffryes's St Ives paintings. I think Arooj Aftab's music is soulful and magical.

Number one on my bucket list:

I'm restless and always experimenting. I love this Regency series and can't wait to share it with readers. It's really important to me, not only because it's 'my thing' but also because I think it's my job to explore diversity and diverse stories, including in Regency times. Colonial history had a huge impact on the cultural landscape of the UK (and of course the world). My writing is always funny and passionate and fun but I also explore some of these deeper impacts. Most commercial and romantic fiction doesn't visit these histories.

Anything else you'd like to add:

Chocolate, always chocolate. I love all kinds of chocolate, but my favourites are the ethical brand Tony's Chocolonely and I love sea salt chocolate too.

Find more from the author:

• @amitamurray on Twitter and Insta