Interview

Marina Kemp explains her writing process and the inspiration behind her haunting debut novel Marguerite.

Describe Marguerite in a few sentences.

Marguerite is a story about the gulf between the face we show the world and the secrets we keep hidden—and what happens when those two things collide.

Marguerite is a young woman who arrives in a small village in France, to work as a live-in nurse for a cruel old man. In her grief and secrecy, she is sleep-walking through her youth. This starts to change when she meets Henri, a local farmer living with his own secrets, constantly in hiding from his true self; between them there's a chance for connection and acceptance. But so many things call that into jeopardy; not just the characters around them—because this is a very small and claustrophobic village, in which everyone is watching each other, desperate for the next great drama to unfold—but the web of secrets in which they each find themselves enmeshed.

Setting is so important in Marguerite. Not only does it set the pace, but it also mirrors the characters. Why did you choose Saint-Sulpice as the setting?

My mother lives much of the year in France, amongst silvery olive groves just outside a small village much like Saint-Sulpice. I started writing Marguerite when I was out there with her, and as a setting ...