Harriet Tyce

Harriet Tyce is the author of the bestseller Blood Orange, a psychological thriller published by Wildfire in the UK and Grand Central Publishing in the US. Harriet grew up in Edinburgh and studied English at Oxford University before practising as a criminal barrister for the next decade. After having children she left the Bar and has recently completed with distinction an MA in Creative Writing - Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. Blood Orange is her first novel and is available through Suffolk Libraries.

Who were your literary heroes as you were growing up and when did you first realise you wanted to write?

I think that most crime writers will say this but I loved Agatha Christie’s books very much. I also very much enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, though I don’t think I would ever have the patience to create such a rich fantasy world. I also loved a lot of poetry as I was growing up, especially Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin. I first wrote poetry as a teenager though I stopped for over twenty years - it was only in my late thirties that I started to write fiction and realised how much I loved it.

Blood Orange has had an amazing response. How did it come together when you were writing it? Was Alison fully formed in your mind before you started writing or did she develop as you wrote?

Alison’s character was pretty clear in my mind - I knew that I wanted to explore what would happen to a woman who stayed at the Bar after having children, rather than leave as so many do, though of course I threw a lot of difficulties in her way. The story was less clear - I knew the beginning and the end, and the middle worked itself out as I wrote it.

Can you share anything about what you are working on at the moment?

I’ve just finished all of the edits and proof reads of my new novel, The Lies You Told, which is about the toxicities of the school gate. I haven’t started a new book yet, though I’m starting to think about it.

As I write this we're in the middle of lockdown. How has this affected the way you work?

From a practical point of view, it’s meant that I have to stop being precious about having no one else in the house when I write. I always used to write during the time when my family was all out at work and school and of course that’s not possible now. But I’m very grateful that we are safe and well, and that I already work from home. There are a lot more video calls now, and I’ve had to rearrange the furniture a bit to make sure that I have the right bookcase backdrop! From a creative point of view it has its challenges - as I said I’m thinking about my next book and it’s going to be interesting to work out how (or whether) to refer to the pandemic in any way. I know I won’t want to read a book about all this for a very long time to come...

Has a book ever changed your life or made you look at things differently?

So many times it’s hard to single any out - it’s so often that I find that something I’ve read speaks to the situation that I’m in and gives help. That’s the beauty of books, really.

What is on your 'to read' pile at the moment?

I am currently reading the new book After the Silence by Louise O’Neill, and the next up is My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.

Do you have a message for your Suffolk readers?

I hope that you are all keeping safe and well in these difficult times, and that reading is providing some escape. I know it is for me. My family and I spend a lot of time on the Suffolk coast and we can’t wait to return when it’s safe to do so.

Can you tell us one thing your readers may not know about you?

I am a serial killer - of houseplants. I find it almost impossible to keep them alive!