Interview With Dilly Court
The Historical Novelist Talks To Us About Her Books and Inspiration
Oct 31, 2007
This is an interview with historical novelist Dilly Court, who has written five novels based in Victorian East End London. A Cockney Sparrow was published in the US on October 23rd and Dilly´s sixth book, A Mother’s Courage is due to be published in November 2007.
Kate Pullen: Your books have strong, fast openings grabbing the reader's attention straight away and immersing them fully in the plot. Was this a conscious decision to engage the readers early on? Is this how the plots for your books come to you?
Dilly Court: Yes, a strong opening is important. Unless a book has been highly recommended to a reader, the first page, indeed the first line, will be one of the main influences affecting their choice in the bookshop.
KP: Your books have strong female characters. Are these based on people you know or have known?
DC: Not consciously. There might be the odd characteristic of someone I have met in the past that creeps in, but it is never a deliberate play on a real person.
KP: In a recent Writers Magazine interview you mention that the characters come to you as you go and help direct the plot - how do you manage to regain control! Do you have an outline before you start.
DC: My books are all character driven, and although I have a rough idea of the story I never draft out a plot as such. As I get to know the characters they grow and change just like real people, but of course I have the last say.
KP: Do you have a favorite character and why? Do you grow fond of your characters while you are writing them?
DC: I think my favorite character is Tilly True because she is such a romancer, but I have a soft spot for the heroine of A Mother's Courage too. I do get fond of the characters in my books, and I am quite sorry to say goodbye to them at the end of the story (except for the really nasty ones, of course).
KP: Is there a character you would like to have been?
DC: No, Life was tough and abysmally short for the less well-off people in Victorian times. I'm glad that I was born in the twentieth century.
KP: Are you ever tempted to write sequels and give us a glimpse into the heroine's future?
DC: I have considered it, and it's a possibility that I might write a sequel some time in the future.
KP: Your books have evocative covers. Do you have an input into this?
DC: I was extremely fortunate that Random House chose one of the top artists to do the covers for my books. Gordon Crabbe is quite amazing in that he can evoke the period and spirit of the heroine in one eye-catching picture. I am not involved in the initial artwork, but I and my agent have a say in the finished work - although I have to say this is usually just to congratulate Gordon on another brilliant book jacket.
KP: Your books are set in the Victorian East End of London. What drew you to this time and place?
DC: I grew up in the suburbs of East London and both my grandfathers worked in the City. Some of my earliest memories are of being taken up to their offices in Whitechapel, and I was lucky to have seen post-war London before the developers moved in to build modern office blocks.
