I can barely believe it but the day is finally here. I had the idea for Love Will Tear Us Apart for a long time and I’d actually written the first few chapters before I submitted Try Not to Breathe to agents… I was the mother of three young kids when I wrote those first lines, which never changed through the drafts.
It’s come out today, and my fourth child is three and a half.
Love Will Tear Us Apart feels like a memoir, even though it isn’t. It really isn’t! I just felt so completely entwined with the characters Kate and Paul, it’s like our childhoods were somehow shared. And I did put a lot of my own life into this book. The 1980s Somerset summers, the loneliness of struggling to make friends, of feeling on the outside but with no clue how to give the people what they wanted. Of feeling inadequate as a parent, and terrified of screwing up.
And the good stuff too, the thrill of the city when you’re young and brave. The absolute joy when you do find your tribe. Family.
I’ve been overjoyed with the generous reactions of reviewers and other authors, and I really, really hope you like it.
