Ask the Author: Rose Pascoe
Answered Questions (4)
Rose Pascoe
I find a tiny, tangential hook into whatever I'm writing and force myself to write a couple of lines about it. I got blocked halfway through writing "Last Child At Versailles", when I had a long gap while moving house. I found a picture of a beautiful period gown and started describing it ... before I knew it, I had written a whole scene at a ball (never used - maybe another time!)
Rose Pascoe
Definitely "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr. "All the Light We Cannot See" was one of my all-time favorite books.
Rose Pascoe
I spent my childhood weekends on the many and varied boats my father built. On one trip, we came across an island with hole in the middle. The mysterious thing was that we were never able to find it again, despite years of island-cruising, map-checking and asking other boaties. It became a family obsession! Reminds me of "The Beach" by Alex Garland, on a much smaller and way less exotic scale.
Rose Pascoe
My ancestors arrived from Britain on sailing ships in the early days of the settlement of New Zealand by Europeans. Family legend has it that one branch of the family originated in France. It got me wondering - what drives a person to leave their home country for the ends of the earth? When I read more about French history, I stumbled on the little-known real-life character who became the heroine of "The Last Child At Versailles". What an incredible life she must have had, growing up at Versailles at the time of the French Revolution! As soon as I read about her, I had to write the book.
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