One of the greatest pleasures that can still be enjoyed, whilst living under the current lockdown constraints, is the simple act of getting lost in a wholly engaging book.
So, when an accomplished, Sunday Times best-selling author, announces she is about to release her latest book in the next couple of weeks, there suddenly seems to be something to get excited about.
Distinguished journalist, Penguin novelist and Sidmouth resident, Jane Corry, is to launch her latest novel at the end of May, on the back of her best-selling books - My Husband’s Wife, The Dead Ex, I Looked Away and Blood Sisters.
The usually hands-on grandmother has seen big success in the UK and across the pond with her gripping crime thrillers and her hotly anticipated book, I Made a Mistake, will be her fifth thriller published by Penguin.
Jane has always had a passion for writing and is particularly interested in writing ‘issue topics’ about misjustices and about women who face big challenges in life.
At school, English was her favourite subject and she viewed stories as a form of escape. She said: “I’ve always written, ever since I was little. I could never do maths, but stories came naturally to me. I am very grateful for that.
“I started my career as a journalist and then got published as a romantic novelist. However, after my first marriage ended, I took a job as a writer in residence of a high security male prison. This changed my style of writing and I became fascinated by the kind of relationships that are formed in prison and why people break the law. I also wanted to explore the effect on families and other loved ones on the outside. I’ve been very lucky in that all my books for Penguin have been in the top 10 Sunday Times paperback chart.”
Jane’s second marriage brought her to Sidmouth, a place she loves, and where she enjoys wild water swimming, tennis and walking, under normal circumstances.
She said: “My husband used to come to Sidmouth as a child on holiday. When his parents got older, he would drive them all the way down from Newcastle to stay at The Riviera. We love having afternoon tea there now. Some of the staff still remember his father.”
The area seems to inspire her writing too. Some of her ideas come out of the blue when she is walking her dog along the beach or looking after her grandchildren. She has to pause what she is doing to write down the ideas before she forgets the details.
However, the current lockdown measures have hampered her ability to look after her grandchildren. When asked how she has been managing lockdown, Jane said: “The worst bit for me is not being able to cuddle my grandchildren. My daughter and her husband moved to Sidmouth shortly after us because I always said that I would help out with childcare. My own mother died when I was only 30, so I know what it was like not to have any help. Now it’s lockdown, we talk on Facebook and talk at each other’s front doors from the road.”
Despite lockdown, Jane considers herself as lucky, as her grandchildren create pretty pictures and leave them outside her house, and she is able to escape to her allotment every day and walk her dog. Plus, importantly, as a writer she can lose herself in a plot.
Jane writes one novel a year and is currently working on the second draft of a thriller for 2021. Yet, she never talks about future plots. She said: “I find that, as a writer, it’s much fresher if you write it, before telling anyone.”
Her latest book, I Made a Mistake, which is published by Penguin, is told from the point of view of Poppy and her mother in law Betty. Betty lives with Poppy, her husband and their teenage children. Poppy also runs an agency for acting extras. She never thought she was ‘the type of woman’ to have an affair, but then Matthew her first love comes back into her life after 23 years. Meanwhile, it seems that Betty, a widow, also has her love secrets going back to the 1960s. So, there is a vintage feel as well as a contemporary setting to the story.
I MADE A MISTAKE is out on Kindle on May 21 and in paperback on May 28. It can be ordered from bookshops, including Winstones, Paragon and Waterstones as well as supermarkets and Amazon. For more, visit http://bit.ly/IMadeaMistake or https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jane-Corry/I-Made-a-Mistake/24376830
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