A feast for the senses
A few years ago, my husband and I and two friends were lucky enough to travel through Morocco with the help of a wonderful guide, Brahim Karaoui. We started in Marrakech, drove southeast across the desert to the amazing city of Ouarzazate (Morocco’s ‘Hollywood’) and on to Merzouga, where, after a long camel ride, we spent a night under the stars. From there, we drove north to Fez, a city I fell in love with. It is an absolute feast for the senses – a multitude of colours, the scents of sandalwood, citrus and jasmine, the ubiquitous mint tea, and the happy chaos of the street markets.
The scenery of the Sahara and the Atlas Mountains appears in In Love With The Night and A Long Walk With Fate, and the Riad Capella was inspired by our stunning hotel in the beautiful walled medina of Fez.
How they deal with the fateful events that shape their lives
Over my three novels, three completely different women come onto the stage.
Rachel Covelli, in The Way Things Fall is a quiet, thoughtful person in her early twenties, happy with her own company and not part of the social, party-going scene usually expected of someone her age. Before she develops her career, she falls under the influence — some might say the spell — of Karl Gustav, an astronomer-Egyptologist who taps into a deeper part of her psyche. She feels he is the only man who has ever truly known her. Later, as a successful art critic, she develops greater self-awareness and self-confidence but her attraction to Karl proves to be deep-rooted and inescapable.
Amina Gamel, in In Love With The Night is only fifteen when we first meet her. She is poor, with no hope or ambition for the future. When taken in by a wealthy hotel owners, she lives a life of gratitude, very much in the shadows, and nurses a crush on one of two brothers in the family. It takes a long time for Amina to realize the power of her physical beauty and beguiling personality.
Gabriella Mazhar, in A Long Walk With Fate is in her early thirties. She is a bitter woman, believing her family does not value her contribution to the business. Eventually, this bitterness hardens into a calculated need for a husband and child and a plan to take over the entire enterprise. As the story evolves, Gabi loses her moral compass and her grip on reality.
The men in my novels are neither simple nor perfect human beings
Karl Gustav in The Way Things Fall is a deep and highly complex man, a rare combination of scientist and mystic with a reverence for the power of fate and karma. His beliefs are based on his studies in cosmology and the way the Ancient Egyptians interpreted the stars. He is methodical, taciturn, dismissive but intensely passionate — passion that rises to the surface and completely overwhelms both he himself and Rachel, the woman he loves.
Steven Farrow in The Way Things Fall is the complete opposite to Karl. He is a divorced, struggling, broody artist, waiting to be discovered, uneasy in social situations and feeling a little victimized by life. He nurses a sense of guilt over the death of his brother ten years earlier and uses this as an excuse to hide from the world. Through his relationship with the art critic, Rachel, his approach to his work and his belief in himself changes. He relies on her support and becomes increasingly successful. Throughout the story, Steven believes he and Rachel are in love - but were they? At one point Karl challenges Steven, claiming that he never cared for Rachel, that he used her for his own ends.
Dominic El Hassan in In Love With The Night is unlike either of the men in the first novel. He is outgoing, exuberant, a partygoer, a womanizer, held in check by his older brother and sister in law. But despite his charm and recklessness, he takes the running of the family hotel seriously and is extremely popular with both family and friends. Dominic has inherited the Roma blood of his mother and believes there is a greater force that guides our lives. This belief causes him to dabble with everything from Tarot cards to star-reading, but he lacks the discipline for serious study so bases everything he does on hunches and instincts … which prove to be prophetic.
When we first meet Aiden Quinn in A Long Walk With Fate, he is a sensitive, somewhat defensive young man, a talented artist in a dead-end job, dealing with the recent death of the woman who raised him. Aiden has little money and no prospects. Unable to forgive his birthmother for abandoning him, he has developed a cynical attitude to the world. As the story develops, so does Aiden. His self-deprecation is endearing. Catapulted into a whole new world in a different country, he finally finds purpose and believes people genuinely want to help him. When a twist of fate puts him in the centre of a terrifying incident, his inner strength and a new sense of determination come through.