Authors Interviewing Characters: Sarah Steele
Sarah Steele is the author of THE MISSING PIECES OF Nancy Moon, in which Flo Connelly recreates a vintage wardrobe from a box of 1962 dress patterns, and travels around Europe to find out what happened to the woman who originally made them. Sarah originally trained as a classical musician, and before writing this, her debut novel, she was a freelance editor and music teacher.
Sarah Steele interviews her character Pamela Cavendish
I’m sitting in the Gelateria San Marco with Pamela Cavendish, who is visiting Venice with her family. Pamela, I believe you’ve been travelling around Europe for a few weeks now. What has been your highlight so far?
Well, let me see … Paris: boring, apart from watching Nancy try to order lunch off the French menu. Antibes: boring, and I hate the beach. With my pale, freckly skin I always burn.
But you’ve been to Capri too? That must have been beautiful.
‘Spose so. The ice cream was pretty good, and we did bump into an old family friend I’ve always liked a lot. So yes, I suppose that was all right. And we got to go on a boat, even if it was with a bunch of loud, rich Italians. It was fun until I discovered I get seasick. Then it really wasn’t fun at all.
There’s a rumour that Liz Taylor and Richard Burton were sailing nearby whilst you were on Capri. I don’t suppose you spotted them?
Liz who?
Liz Taylor. You know, A Place in the Sun. No? Um, how about National Velvet?
Oh her! Yes, that’s my favourite film. They used to show it at school at the end of term, and it would make everyone cry because we all missed our ponies so much.
So you’re a horsewoman?
I’ve ridden since I was three. Granny and Grandpapa used to keep horses at their estate, and I spent all my holidays there, basically living on horseback. Granny never minded me being covered in straw and dressed in filthy jodhpurs, but then Ma would come to collect me, and march me straight to the hairdressers and to Harrods for new clothes. So dull. Why are women so obsessed with clothes?
You’re not a young woman overly concerned with fashion, then?
You think I’d wear silly flowery dress like this if I had a choice? I’m only dressed up like Shirley Temple now because Nancy made me. She seems to think she’s not doing her job unless I look half as glamorous as she does.
And Nancy is your nanny?
Do I look like I need a nanny?
Well, your … companion?
Hm. Sort of. Except she’s more of a friend now. But don’t tell her I said that, will you? I’ve nearly finished this ice cream. Would you mind getting me another one? Oh, raspberry ripple this time, please. No, a double. It’s fine. Nancy always lets me have doubles. What? I’ve got chocolate down my front? Silly me. No, I’ll use the sleeve of my cardi, don’t worry. You get the ice cream, and I’ll deal with this.
So, here you are, a double raspberry ripple. That’s an awful lot of ice cream for one young lady, straight after the last one.
I’m seventeen, not seven. I think I can decide what is a lot of ice cream for me, don’t you?
Well, if you’re sure your family won’t mind. At least you’re unlikely to be seasick on a gondola, I suppose.
Oh, I’m not going on a gondola. I’m spending the rest of this trip indoors, reading my book. It’s a cracking tale about nurses and hospitals. I’m completely hooked.
But what about all the beautiful art, the churches, the squares?
That’s Pa’s thing really. He’s an artist, you see. Nancy quite likes going with him to look at boring old paintings, but I’d rather go for an ice cream any day.
So is that where they all are this afternoon?
I expect so. Ma will be sleeping, but the others will be looking at stupid religious scenes painted by someone who’s been dead three hundred years. Can you imagine anything more tedious? We’re meant to be going to a private view tonight: some of Pa’s paintings. And a whole bunch of other boring paintings. I only agreed to go because of Lorenzo, the gallery owner. He’s an old friend of Pa’s, and he keeps horses at his place in the country. He always lets me ride around the olive groves when we go to visit. It’s heaven.
Are you all right, Pamela? Did you drop something?
Shhhh.
Why are you under the table?
My … shoelace came undone.
But you’re wearing court shoes. Pamela, there’s a young lady in the doorway. She’s English, looks like Grace Kelly, blonde, very glamorous, and she’s asking if anyone has seen … hold on … a teenaged girl with red hair and freckles. Says she’s looking for her charge.
Don’t say anything. I mean it. Is she still there?
No, she’s gone. But she did look quite cross. Do you think you ought maybe to head home soon?
I thought you wanted to interview me?
Well, perhaps one more question, then?
Fire away.
So, Pamela, where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
What sort of a stupid question is that?
It’s a standard job-interview question.
Oh, I won’t be allowed to get a job. Not that I wouldn’t love to: my own money, a little flat, three cats and dog, ice cream whenever I felt like it … Ma is determined I’ll be married to some dull baronet in five years’ time, but who knows? The most interesting people in life never listened to their parents, I bet. And maybe I have plans of my own.
In which case, I hope they work out for you. Well, Pamela, it’s been … interesting meeting you. Enjoy the rest of your holiday, and, wow, yes, you did finish that second ice cream.
—
Sarah Steele trained as a classical pianist and violinist in London, before joining the world of publishing as assistant at Hodder and Stoughton. She was then for many years a freelance editor. She now lives in Stroud and in 2018 was the director of Wordfest at Gloucester Cathedral, which culminated in a suffragette march led by Helen Pankhurst. The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon is her debut novel.
THE MISSING PIECES OF NANCY MOON
‘I was gripped, desperate to solve the mystery of Nancy Moon’ Sarah Haywood, New York Times bestselling author of THE CACTUS
‘Wonderful. This book is a joy’ Katie Fforde, Sunday Times bestselling author
‘A gorgeous, tender debut’ Kate Riordan, author of THE HEATWAVE
‘Moving, hopeful and heartfelt’ Felicity Hayes-McCoy, author of THE LIBRARY AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
To unravel that long-lost summer, she had to follow the thread…
Florence Connelly is broken hearted. Her marriage has collapsed under the weight of the loss she shares with her husband, and her beloved grandmother has just died. Even the joy she found in dressmaking is gone.
But things change when Flo opens a box of vintage 1960s dress patterns found inside her grandmother’s wardrobe. Inside each pattern packet is a fabric swatch, a postcard from Europe and a photograph of a mysterious young woman, Nancy Moon, wearing the hand-made dress.
Flo discovers that Nancy was a distant relation who took the boat train to Paris in 1962 and never returned. With no one to stay home for, Flo decides to follow Nancy’s thread. She unravels an untold story of love and loss in her family’s past. And begins to stitch the pieces of her own life back together.
‘Warm and true… Pays tribute to the heart and backbone of women who support each other when the world turns its back’ Stephanie Butland, author of LOST FOR WORDS
‘Two captivating stories of love and heartbreak, stitched together by a trail through Europe in 1962’ Gill Paul, author of THE SECRET WIFE
‘Beautiful and touching. A remarkable debut novel, which demonstrates the enduring nature of love, family and friendship’ Sarah Haywood, author of THE CACTUS
READERS ARE LOVING THE MISSING PIECES OF NANCY MOON:
‘Outstandingly beautiful. This book took my breath away. A sheer joy.’
‘A captivating read of secrets untold. A moving story which I read in one day. Many twists and turns enhanced this gripping novel and kept me enthralled’
‘A lovely, uplifting book’
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BLUe1x
Waterstones: https://bit.ly/38h2tPl
Hive: https://bit.ly/3g72Ezp
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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