Indiscretion

by Hannah Fielding

  Have you ever met a real gypsy?

  I have always been fascinated by fortune-telling, something that is reflected in all my books, where one way or another either my heroine or hero encounters a fortune-teller: some good, others downright bad.

  And yes, I have met a real gypsy, twice in my life. Once in Paris, in 1974, as I was hurrying through the Place de La Madeleine: she was the one who approached me, very much in the same way as Paquita approaches Alexandra in Indiscretion. It was a daunting experience: not only did she try to extract money from me but her sinister prediction about someone I knew came true. The second time was at a fair in London’s Berkeley Square in 1977, where this time I deliberately entered a well-known gypsy fortune-teller’s tent because I was at a crossroads in my life. I was told I would be married within a year and that’s exactly what happened!

  What is one word you would use to describe Indiscretion?

  Passion! Everything about Spain breathes passion: the fiery colours of the Spanish countryside with its wonderful vistas, the amazing dawns and sunsets, the rugged but vibrant earth – all so breathtaking they put a spell on you. And then the ardent personality and charm of the Spanish people themselves, their heart-rending music and the intensity with which they live and love.

  Passion lies at the heart of this story: the fervent romance that evolves between Salvador and Alexandra, and the trials and tribulations they must endure to win their happy-ever-after – a story that grips your heart as you follow them through a tortuous path wrought with jealousy, lies and revenge.

  A WRITER’S LIFE:

  Do you base your characters on real people?

  I probably do so subconsciously. On my travels and living in various countries I have met so many interesting characters so some of it is bound to come out in my writing. But there is no specific character or situation in my novels that is connected with people or events I’ve encountered.

  Are you like any of your heroines?

  All of the main female characters I write about have a little of me in them. I think you write best when you write about what you know. My heroines are, to a certain extent, naïve where emotional experience is concerned, and that is definitely an element that reflects my own naïvety when I was young. I was very protected as a child growing up in Egypt, and the big, wide world came as something of a surprise to me when, in my early twenties, I began to travel. Coral, the heroine in Burning Embers, possesses this quality most strongly and her story is a rite of passage. In Indiscretion Alexandra also has an emotional freshness that comes through immediately, a quality Salvador, being a conservative Spanish male, finds highly attractive. Her unwieldiness might land her in trouble (as mine did on occasion!), but nevertheless, her innocence is not without charm. Many of the heroines in my earlier books also have an artistic quality that I share.

  What made you decide to set your novels in the fifty years spanning the second half of the twentieth century, rather than a completely modern setting?

  Because it’s a period I know well, and I think I write best when I’m able to tap into my own experiences. Also, those fifty or so years have seen such major changes in society, and there is much to explore in terms of romance in that era. My first novel, Burning Embers, for example, is set in 1970, because I wanted to write a traditional love story with a naïve heroine, but one who is very much a product of the sixties social revolution, from her fashion sense and independent nature through to her career as a successful freelance photographer. Also, I wanted to capture the beauty of Kenya at a time when independence was brand new. Venetia, heroine of The Echoes of Love, is a professional woman working abroad at the turn of the new millennium; she has some sexual experience before she meets the hero, Paolo, and the modern nature of the times means their passion is free to express itself far more physically than in previous decades. In Indiscretion, it is 1950 and the heroine, Alexandra, represents the new ‘liberated and free’ woman of the post-war years. Her journey to Spain, though made in order to meet her estranged family, is just as much a journey to discover her real self and escape the straitjacket in which she’d lived all her life up until then, one largely imposed by the social expectations of her time.

  Do you have a favourite ‘romantic decade’?

  I struggle to choose! I think perhaps the 1960s because it was a time of such social and cultural revolution, with sexy new fashions, daring new musical styles and artists, and sublimely romantic and colourful big-screen premieres such as West Side Story. It was a time characterized by new freedoms, and with freedom comes heightened romance.

  And your all-time favourite quote?

  By Toni Morrison: ‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it’. (What better incentive is there to write?)

  PACKING UP MY SUITCASE:

  What was your first great travel experience?

  I was fifteen and my parents, my sister and I took a cruise on the Nile in Egypt between Luxor and Abu Simbel, Nubia, before this great temple’s relocation. In those days, Lake Nasser had not yet been created and Abu Simbel stood on the banks of the Nile, all but intact since the thirteenth century BC. While the boat glided dreamily on the Nile, I was drawn by the utter tranquility and sense of history there, surrounded as I was by an ancient world of ruins and the age-old scenery of fields and villages where people were living as they had a thousand years ago.

  What was your favourite journey?

  I think visiting Seville, Spain, during the Semana Santa, the Holy Week. It is a truly emotional experience that no one should miss.

  And your top five places worldwide?

  Aswan, Egypt: a felucca trip on the Nile at sunset is a most romantic and soothing experience.

  Le Mont Saint-Michel, Brittany, France: a place of wild beauty, full of ghosts from thousands of years of history.

  Cádiz la Joyosa, Spain: a white and blue town of pale domes and spires that sing of the sea.

  Kenya: for its unequalled safari parks and its fabulous sunsets.

  Portofino, Genoa, Italy: because it is quintessentially Italian and embodies all I love about Italian music, fashion, food and the beautiful language.

  INSPIRATIONS:

  As a writer what inspires you – romantic or otherwise?

  Even more than people countries have been my main source of inspiration. For me, everywhere I visit is a new and exciting setting for the plot of a novel. I draw on the richness of its people, its history and all it has to offer in the way of cuisine, language, and customs to create fabulous places where my characters can meet and fall in love. I can say that my books are born of my travels.

  You divide your time between the south of France and the south of England – what inspiration do you find from such different habitats?

  My nineteenth-century Georgian house in Kent, England, is a couple of miles away from the sea and the rolling countryside around Dover Castle. I love the house because it’s my home: the place I always return to, where my children grew up and where I have spent my happiest years. In summer the weather is temperate and balmy, just as I like it; and the garden, with its orchard and its giant beech trees, is a picture postcard. The autumn and winter months bring their own charm. In autumn, when the leaves of our trees turn vibrant yellow, orange, amber and even crimson, I sit under one of those trees, breathe in the pure air and gaze in peaceful silence at the amazing view or go for long walks in the countryside, conjuring up my romantic plots. When it snows, once more the landscape changes and the views of my village are breathtaking. At that time, there is no better feeling than snuggling up in an armchair in front of a log fire with a good book.

  For the other half of the year I live in France, on the southern coast of Provence in the county of Var. My house there is a mas and has a totally different feel to it than my home in England, being modern with stone floors and delicate voile curtains. I love that part of France because of the wonderfully warm weather, the brilliant colours of the vegetation, t
he Mediterranean sea with its ever-changing blues and golden sandy beaches, the array of local fish and fruit and vegetables you find at the open-air stalls in the marketplace and the happy-go-lucky, friendly people. For me, my home in France spells sunshine, blue skies, a swim in the sea, and writing in a room with a wide picture window overlooking the amazing ocean.

  Find out more at www.hannahfielding.net

  ALSO BY HANNAH FIELDING

  THE ECHOES OF LOVE

  Her award-winning novel

  Set in the romantic and mysterious city of Venice and the beautiful landscape of Tuscany, The Echoes of Love is a poignant story of lost love and betrayal, unleashed passion and learning to love again, whatever the price.

  Venetia Aston-Montague has escaped to Italy’s most captivating city to work in her godmother’s architecture firm, putting a lost love behind her.

  Paolo Barone, a charismatic entrepreneur whose life has been turned upside down by a tragic past, is endeavouring to build a new one for himself.

  Venice on a misty carnival night brings these two people together. Love blossoms in the beautiful hills of Tuscany and the wild Sardinian maquis; but before they can envisage a future together they must not only confront their past, but also dark forces in the shadows determined to come between them.

  Will love triumph over their overwhelming demons? Or will Paolo’s carefully guarded, devastating secret tear them apart forever?

  ALSO BY HANNAH FIELDING

  BURNING EMBERS

  Her mesmerizing debut novel

  Set in the heart of Africa, Burning Embers is a tale of unforgettable passion and fragile love tormented by secrets and betrayal.

  On the news of her estranged father’s death, beautiful young photographer Coral Sinclair is forced to return to the family plantation in Kenya to claim her inheritance.

  But the peace of her homecoming is disrupted when she encounters the mysterious yet fearsomely attractive Rafe de Montfort – owner of the neighbouring plantation, and a reputed womanizer who had an affair with her own stepmother. Despite this, a mystifying attraction ignites between them and shakes Coral to the core as circumstances conspire to bring them together.

  It is when Coral delves into Rafe’s past and discovers the truth about him, that she questions his real motives. Does Rafe really care for her, or is he hiding darker intentions? Should she listen to the warnings of those around her, or should she trust her own instincts about this man with a secret past?

  Praise for Burning Embers

  ‘An epic romance like Hollywood used to make …’

  Peterborough Evening Telegraph

  ‘The intense love story that unfolds, coupled with the sublimely poetic descriptions of the landscape and setting left me gripped throughout. Burning Embers has definitely been one of my favourite summer reads.’

  Amazon.co.uk review

  ‘An intense, vivid and passionate love story.’

  Amazon.co.uk review

  ‘Burning Embers is a romantic delight and an absolute must-read for anyone looking to escape to a world of colour, beauty, passion and love. For those who can’t go to Kenya in reality, this has got to be the next best thing.’

  Amazon.co.uk review

  ‘Five stars … Hats off to Hannah Fielding on her first novel — and many more I hope.’

  Amazon.co.uk review

  ‘A good-old fashioned love story … A heroine who’s young, naive and has a lot to learn. A hero who’s alpha and hot, has a past and a string of women. A different time, world, and class. The kind of romance that involves picnics in abandoned valleys and hot-air balloon rides and swimming in isolated lakes.

  Heavenly.’

  Amazon.co.uk review

  ‘The story hooked me from the start. I want to be Coral, living in a more innocent time in a beautiful, hot location, falling for a rich, attractive, broody man. Can’t wait for [Hannah Fielding’s] next book.’

  Amazon.co.uk review

  Praise for The Echoes of Love (Gold Medal winner of the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award for Romance)

  ‘One of the most romantic works of fiction ever written … an epic love story beautifully told.’

  The Sun

  ‘Fans of romance will devour it in one sitting.’

  The Lady

  ‘All the elements of a rollicking good piece of indulgent romantic fiction.’

  BM Magazine

  ‘This book will make you wish you lived in Italy.’

  Fabulous magazine

  ‘The book is the perfect read for anyone with a passion for love, life and travel.’

  Love it! magazine

  ‘Romance and suspense, with a heavy dose of Italian culture.’

  Press Association

  ‘A plot-twisting story of drama, love and tragedy.’

  Italia! magazine

  ‘There are many beautifully crafted passages, in particular those relating to the scenery and architecture of Tuscany and Venice … It was easy to visualise oneself in these magical locations.’

  Julian Froment blog

  ‘Fielding encapsulates the overwhelming experience of falling deeply, completely, utterly in love, beautifully.’

  Books with Bunny

  ‘Hannah Fielding writes in a beautifully elegant style, full of atmosphere and the sights, sounds and smells of Italy. I was transported to a Venice in winter for the Carnival, to the Italian coast, and to Tuscany.’

  Lindsay Townsend, historical romance author