Portobello Book Blog

I’m really delighted to welcome Cesca Major to my blog today. I have read both her novels this year and they are both 5* reads for me. Click to read my review of The Silent Hours and The Last Night. You can order a copy of her newest book which was published by Corvus Books on 3rd November by clicking here.

Thanks so much for joining me Cesca. First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself? 

I was born in Devon and live in Berkshire with my husband and our son. I write novels and am currently on maternity leave from my job in a boarding school.  

What inspired you to start writing?

Reading. Like most writers I love to read and I think I started to read enough that I wanted to produce something myself. 

Tell me about your journey to publication

I wrote a couple of books before my debut THE SILENT HOURS was picked up by Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson Agency. I had a whole file of rejection letters spanning around three years and I knew THE SILENT HOURS was different from the start when a number of agents asked to see the full manuscript. 

In a nutshell, what is your latest book about?

It’s about Irina, an antique furniture restorer, with her own troubled past. She receives a bureau to restore and becomes troubled by the piece. She decides to find out more and in doing so stumbles across a story that has remained secret for more than sixty years. 

How did you come up with the title for your book?

I had numerous options and this was part of a line from a poem by Emily Dickinson. 

How did you celebrate publication day?

In a gorgeous bookshops in Notting Hill called Lutyens and Rubinstein. It was a fabulous gathering of book folk and lovely to mark the launch of a second novel. 

Do you have a work in progress just now?

I’m working on my third novel. It’s set in New Zealand in the 1940s and I am thoroughly enjoying the research. It is based on another true story and I’m engrossed in finding out more.

What’s your favourite book you’ve read in the past few months? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose!

I haven’t read as much as I’d like as I have a 5 month old but most recently I have thoroughly enjoyed Ali Land’s GOOD ME BAD ME out in 2017. I think it will be mega. The cover is great too. 

What are you reading just now? 

I’m currently on holiday in the Canaries so am making a very impressive dent into my TBR. In hard copy LOCAL GIRL MISSING by Claire Douglas is up next, THE INVITATION by Lucy Foley is on my Kindle and THE SHADOW HOUR by Kate Riordan is my current read. I am so behind with others so it’s a total pleasure to be on the lounger with them.

If you were on Desert Island Discs, what one book would you take with you?

Oh toooooo hard. I suppose the most joyful book I return to – THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer. It’s wonderful, packed full of lovely characters and so moving, witty and warm. 

Is there a book you’d like to see made into a film? 

I’d love to see Hannah Richell’s THE SHADOW YEAR made into a movie. It would be creepy and atmospheric and brilliant. 

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

With ease! I’m on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as @CescaWrites and my website is www.cescamajor.com 

And finally, if you could be a character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?

If it is just 24 hours maybe Jack Reacher so I can spend the day beating up nasty people on behalf of the good ones.