Vanessa Beaumont tells us about her brilliant debut novel, ‘The Other Side Of Paradise’.
I loved ‘The Other Side Of Paradise’. The characters are so well drawn and vivid, with deep feelings and deep pockets, the circumstances complicated and gnarly, throwing the spotlight on marriage, inheritance and gender roles. All of this packaged together tightly in a clearly very well researched period setting. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable read, made more so because you get the sense that the author’s having a jolly good time with you.
Before embarking on her writing journey, Vanessa managed to squeeze in a degree in Classics at Oxford, a successful career in publishing, and three children, now aged 10, 9 and 6. ‘When I first met my agent she was like, I can’t understand the ages of your children this is crazy, how have you done it’, Vanessa tells me, having been encouraged to write a full draft before seeking representation. ‘And then I almost felt guilty, because I used to really like going away writing. I love a library and research; the house is so chaotic, so it was a tonic to go and sit in silence. I was obviously really lucky that I could.’
I am impressed by Vanessa’s single-mindedness. Of course now that she is in print and her novel released to the world on May 9th, it seems perfectly obvious that it would all come good and she’d make the success of it that she has. But early on in the process, she felt like she was shouting into the void. ‘I found that bit really hard; it feels totally fake that you’re saying, ‘I can’t go for lunch’. Because in reality you could, but you’ve got to treat it like a job, sit down and do as many days in a row as you can.
‘I used to feel really mad’, Vanessa laughs. ‘The question I feared most was, ‘what do you do?’ I’d be like well, I’m writing. ‘Can I buy it in a shop?’ No, not yet! You feel so uncertain of this thing that you’re doing, so when I got an agent, it was really lovely. It had been such a lonely journey.’
The estate in Northumberland which her protagonist marries into, mirrors that of her husband’s family. ‘After his grandfather died, the house was mothballed for a long time. When I first looked around it there were paintings all in boxes… my husband was adamant that he wanted to take it on at some point, and so we did.’ The parallels, however, end at the location: ‘My husband was like, ‘the English guy from Northumberland is not that nice’. I said, ‘it’s not you, it’s called fiction!’ It’s been so amazing bringing a house back to life. I feel we’ve given it a happy chapter. My children love it and we fill it with people, so whilst I’ve written about a different version, I’m lucky enough to live the opposite’.
Given the personal history, I assume that the seed of the idea came from the setting, which is a character in itself, and that the people swiftly followed. In reality, however, it was the other way round. ‘I had been staying with friends of ours who have a beautiful house, with some wonderful de László's portraits. There was a portrait of a really lovely woman, but I picked up on a sadness in her eyes. And then there was a portrait of her mother, who looked rather overbearing but magnificent. They were American and the daughter had moved to London, married into an English family and brought a huge amount of wealth with her. I was very interested by that concept. On paper, a woman like this would have had a gilded life, but what might the reality have been? Could I create my own story from this sort of a beginning?
‘There was a moment when I was sitting in the London library and literally this germ of an idea began. I looked up from my laptop and three hours had gone by, and I just kept going. About two weeks later I told my husband look, I’m going to write a novel; not what I said I’m going to do, which was to write non-fiction. I almost felt like I was having a secret affair myself! His immediate reaction was ‘go for it, that’s brilliant’. So then I carried on.’
As a writer, Vanessa says she loves exploring the ‘what could have beens’. ‘You take such a punt when you marry people. It was interesting to explore someone in a period setting where the choices that they could make were limited. So whilst divorce was an option then, Jean’s mother was like no, you’re a name, no one cares if you’re happy or sad, you’re a name and you have an obligation to that.’
Vanessa is currently writing her next book, an unpacking of the extraordinary life of MI6 double agent Kim Philby, told from the perspective of his four wives. She is back in the library, researching and writing and this time, with a deadline and team behind her. ‘The thing that I found so agonising about the first one is that the beginning was totally on my own, without support or structure. This is a different, maybe more reassuring process. I am having slight palpitations that I actually have to get on and write it, but I prefer the stress to an extended period of thinking that no one’s waiting for it.’
It’s safe to say that this time, they definitely are.
‘The Other Side Of Paradise’ is out now.
May, 2024
