Sophie Claire and the importance of family in lockdown

Today I’m welcoming fellow Novelista, Sophie Claire, to the blog, to talk about the importance of family to surviving lockdown, and her new book A Forget-Me-Not Summer, which is now out, ready to sweep readers away to sunnier climes…

At the start of lockdown I had hoped to be super-productive. I told myself I’d whizz through the book I’m writing, get ahead of schedule and begin the next.

It didn’t happen. I muddled through, distracted and worried that my work was trivial compared with that of scientists, medics, and all the businessmen and women fighting to keep their companies solvent.

BUT … at the start of this crisis my son was in the USA and we had difficulties getting him home. Flights were cancelled and I was desperately worried he’d be stranded on another continent. Happily he made it home in the end, but that crisis made me realise what’s important: being together. Friends and family being there for each other whatever happens.

And curiously, that brings me back to my writing. Family, community and love are at the heart of all my books: they’re what I like to write about and to read about, too. Books and television feel more important than ever now, and I’ve been devouring both. When we watch a comedy and it makes us smile, when a good film distracts us for an hour or two, it helps us get through. So perhaps entertainment is important too? Perhaps books aren’t so trivial after all?

I’ve persevered with writing and luckily now I’m at that point in the process where my characters are coming alive. I daydream about them whilst doing other things and ideas pop into my head unexpectedly. I love this stage. It’s the best part of writing a book.

Plus I have reason to celebrate: my latest novel, A FORGET-ME-NOT SUMMER, is out in paperback! I can’t have a book launch or do book signings, but it’s still an exciting time – especially when readers contact me to say how much they’ve enjoyed being transported to sunny Provence with my characters.

Books are an escape. They’re helping me get through these strange times, and I know I’m not alone.

Sophie.x

A Forget-Me-Not-Summer

Purchase Links: UK    US

It’s taken years, but Natasha Brown’s life is finally on track. Running a florists in the quaint village of Willowbrook, she’s put her short-lived marriage to Luc Duval far behind her. That is, until he unexpectedly walks through her shop door, three years after their divorce.

Luc reveals that he never told his family about their split, and now his father is desperately ill and demanding to meet Natasha. Luc needs her to come to France and pretend they’re still happily married. Natasha is horrified, but when Luc makes her an offer she can’t refuse, reluctantly packs her bags.

The deal is two weeks on a vineyard with his family, but will Luc and Natasha be able to play the perfect couple after years apart? And in the glorious Provence sun, will the old spark between them be impossible to ignore?