A Quick-Fire Q&A with Kathryn Hughes

Following her bestselling debut novel THE LETTER, we sat down with Kathryn for a quickfire Q&A before the release of her next novel THE SECRET…

The first album I ever bought…The Grease Soundtrack. I was fourteen when the film came out and I knew every word of every song.  In fact, I still do.

The book I’ve read the most times. The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton.  I could not get enough of Silky, Moonface and Dame Washalot.

My favourite city in the world…Vancouver. It’s where I got married twenty five years ago in the Rose Garden in Stanley Park, with just my husband and two strangers as witnesses.

If I had to choose between appearing on Strictly Come Dancing or X Factor….Although I don’t have a sob story, it would have to be the X Factor because I am tone deaf so that should see me through a few rounds at least.

My most memorable meal…One my husband cooked for me. I knew things had not gone well when he asked me how many slices of gravy I wanted.

If I had to eat the same meal for dinner every day for the rest of my life…well it certainly wouldn’t be the one above! It would have to be lemon, garlic and thyme scented roast chicken with all the trimmings.

The best thing about being a writer…creating characters who become friends and then killing them off when they annoy me.

The book (by another author) that I wish I had written…Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. An epic book and a masterclass in pure story telling.

The one piece of advice I would give my teenage self…Don’t sweat the small stuff. None of it will matter when you’re grown up.

 The comedian who makes me laugh the most…Jason Manford, because I can relate to his Northern humour and he has not let his success go to his head.

If you’re already desperate to get your hands on THE SECRET, you can purchase the eBook or pre order the paperback here

If you liked this, why not try 

Kathryn’s all time favourite reads 

Or

A free extract of THE SECRET