Daisy Wood
Author Interview - Daisy Wood
Author of The Clockmaker's Wife
The world is at war. And time is running out…
London, 1940. Britain is gripped by the terror of the Blitz, forcing Nell Spelman to flee the capital with her young daughter – leaving behind her husband, Arthur, the clockmaker who keeps Big Ben chiming.
When Arthur disappears, Nell is desperate to find him. But her search will lead her into far darker places than she ever imagined…
New York, Present Day. When Ellie discovers a beautiful watch that had once belonged to a grandmother she never knew, she becomes determined to find out what happened to her. But as she pieces together the fragments of her grandmother’s life, she begins to wonder if the past is better left forgotten…
A powerful and unforgettable tale of fierce love, impossible choices and a moment that changes the world forever, perfect for fans of Jennifer Chiaverini and Hazel Gaynor.
Author Interview - Daisy Wood
Author I draw inspiration from: I’m always re-reading Anne Tyler for the wit and elegance of her sentences and the vividness and complexity of her characters. Her writing is so thoughtful and evocative. She’s also particularly brilliant at finishing a novel, subtly drawing the threads of a story together to leave the reader with a sense of completion. I looked at several of her closing scenes before tackling the ending of my novel, The Clockmaker’s Wife, and it really helped.
Author Interview - Daisy Wood
Favorite place to read a book: I have a big shabby chair in the summerhouse that’s the perfect place to read, with the doors open and a breeze wafting in the scents of the garden – except that it’s so comfortable I tend to fall asleep after a few pages.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Harry Potter, from the books by J K Rowling, so he could summon up a spell and get us moving again.
Author Interview - Daisy Wood
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I never thought I could become an author; I just didn’t feel I had anything much to say. I’d been a children’s book editor for years when a colleague suggested I wrote a spooky story for an in-house series, and then one thing led to another and eventually I had over twenty children’s books published under a different name (including the ‘Swallowcliffe Hall’ series of historical novels for teens). The Clockmaker’s Wife is my first published novel for adults and (shhh!) I still feel something of an imposter. But I love writing historical fiction because history is full of events that inspire me when I’m stuck – for example, the terrible night of Sunday 29 December, 1940, when over 100,000 bombs were dropped on the City of London and fire leapt between empty, unguarded offices and warehouses. St Paul’s Cathedral was surrounded by a blazing inferno and only escaped destruction by a miracle – and my heroine, Nell Spelman, was there!
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: All of the above. I sometimes buy hardbacks if there’s a book I’m desperate to read and can’t wait for the paperback, or ebooks if I’m going away and haven’t much space for luggage, and I listen to audiobooks when I’m driving to Dorset, where my mother lives. A skillful narrator can bring the words to life: Michael Kitchen reading Graham Greene is amazing, and I also loved Jason Isaacs narrating Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie detective novels.
The last book I read: The Lamplighters, by Emma Stonex. (This was a novel I bought in hardback.) It gripped me from the start – based around the disappearance of three keepers from the Maiden lighthouse in the 1970s, it’s a compelling, beautifully constructed mystery written in lyrical prose. The sea is as much of a presence in the book as the three men, and the women who are waiting for them at home. Highly recommended, I loved it.
Author Interview - Daisy Wood
Pen & paper or computer: Both! I do all my plotting and working-out in longhand before writing my first and subsequent drafts on the computer. Somehow the freedom of pen and paper seems right for initial thoughts; I can cross out or add notes in the margin to my heart’s content.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Cassandra Mortmain, from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. She would be a wonderful friend, I think, especially if I could become a teenager again. For one thing, she’s a writer, so we would have plenty to talk about. For another, she’s funny in a delightfully self-deprecating way. (‘I am seventeen, look younger, feel older. I am no beauty but have a neatish face.’) And I’d love to stay in the rambling, tumbledown castle and meet the rest of her family: her beautiful sister Rose, her eccentric father, a failed novelist, and her ethereal stepmother Topaz, who used to be an artist’s model.
Author Interview - Daisy Wood
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: An editor in a publishing house, most probably. Editing other people’s work has taught me such a lot when writing my own. A good editor is invaluable; it’s amazing how a writer can overlook flaws that seem obvious when someone with a fresh eye points them out. Molly Walker-Sharp, my editor at Avon Books, improved The Clockmaker’s Wife no end.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I love the Edwardian period, say from 1900 – 1910. The huge hats, tiny waists and elaborate flowing gowns are lovely to look at, although I shouldn’t have liked to be laced into a corset myself! The looser tea gowns for private wear must have felt such a liberation; they certainly made the conduct of illicit affairs much easier since there was no need for a lady’s maid. Perhaps the 1920s would be my favourite fashion decade, when women rejected corsets and trailing skirts in favour of styles that allowed them to run, dance and breathe in comfort.
Place I’d most like to travel: I’d love to take the sleeper train to Scotland and explore the islands of the Hebrides. I’ve never been to Australia or New Zealand either, but travelling so far doesn’t feel right at the moment.
My signature drink: A glass of chilled Sancerre, or possibly three. I also make a delicious pink elderflower cordial from the black elder bushes in my garden.
Favorite artist: Probably Corot. I love the serenity of his light-filled French and Italian landscapes, and his portraits are wonderful too. ‘Ville d’Avray’ is probably my favourite painting in the world: a woman with a basket on her back, standing on a riverbank beneath shimmering grey-green leaves. The scene draws you in, so you could almost step inside the frame and feel the sun on your back and the rushes beneath your feet. Magical!
Number one on my bucket list: It would have to be a trip up the clocktower at the Palace of Westminster to see Big Ben. I had to rely on Youtube videos and books when researching The Clockmaker’s Wife, which is about a woman who foils a plot to bomb the tower in 1940, at the height of the Blitz in World War Two. I was also lucky enough to be helped by two guides to the Houses of Parliament, who know everything there is to know about the great bell. The tower has been closed for the past four years while renovation work is carried out but should be opening next year. As soon as I’m able, I shall be up that tower like a shot to see if what I’ve imagined is accurate!
Anything else you'd like to add: I’ve so enjoyed writing The Clockmaker’s Wife and hope readers will enjoy it, too. The Second World War is such a fascinating period of history: my mother grew up during the war and can remember American troops lining up at the bottom of her road in Dorset before they were sent to France to liberate the country from German occupation. These stories are all around us!
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Instagram and Twitter: @daisywoodwriter
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Author Bio: Daisy Wood worked in publishing for some years before leaving to concentrate on her own writing. She has had many children’s books published, both historical and contemporary, and is happiest rooting about in the London Library on the pretext of research. She lives in south London and when not locked away in her study can be seen in various city parks, running after a rescue Pointer with a Basset Hound in tow.
