Talking to author Emma Burstall about A Cornish Secret

14th October 2018

Emma Burstall started writing novels 10 years ago, but really hit her stride when she was inspired to set stories in Cornwall. She knew the West Country well, from childhood holidays and then as a ‘cub reporter’ for a local newspaper across the border in Plymouth, immediately after leaving Cambridge University with an English degree.

Starting with Tremarnock, fans will be delighted to hear that the 4th in her Cornish series – A Cornish Secret – has just been published in hardback by Head of Zeus.

Emma has been talking about A Cornish Secret, and about her writing life, to an enthralled audience at this year’s Guildford Book Festival. TripFiction’s Andrew was was lucky to chat with her afterwards…

TF: Your most recent books have all been firmly set in Cornwall. Was a sense of place important for some of your earlier novels – Gym and Slimline and Never Close Your Eyes, for example? 

EB: Never Close Your Eyes was based around a Creative Writing Group in Newcastle, and Gym and Slimline centres on four women bonding at a swanky new gym in leafy south-west London. But no, the geographic locations are not as central in those books as Tremarnock is in my Cornish series. 

TF: Tremarnock is a fictional Cornish village. Is it based on a real place or is it generic, a combination of places you know so well in that beautiful county?

EB: Let’s say it’s inspired by a number of villages in south-east Cornwall, particularly around Rame Head on the Rame Peninsula, known as ‘The Forgotten Corner’ of Cornwall. I won’t be any more specific, in case anyone thinks they have become one of my characters!

TF: You live in Kingston now, in leafy Surrey. Do you feel you need to immerse yourself back in Cornwall when you’re writing the Tremarnock series?

EB: Yes, definitely. I tend to go back 3 or 4 times every year, and I make a point of visiting both in and out of season. I find the locals interact more easily outside of the crazy summer season, which is useful as I try hard to portray the challenges of living year-round in Cornwall in my Tremarnock series. It’s not all sunshine, ice cream and swimming!

TF: In A Cornish Secret, teenager Rosie finds a bottle washed up on Tremarnock beach with a message in it from a German POW. She sets out to find him. For any parts of the story happening away from Cornwall, do you physically research in other locations or do you use your writer’s imagination?

EB: In this case I was able to read plenty of books about German POWs sent to Cornwall during WW2, newspaper archives and stories, and use other research tools. But for my next book – the 5th in my Tremarnock series – I have already been to Mexico. Hundreds of Cornish tin miners emigrated there – and other far-flung places – when the industry collapsed in the 19th century, and that plays a part in my story. 

TF: Which writers do you enjoy reading, and how important is a strong sense of place in your own reading list?

EB: I love Thomas Hardy, whose books were obviously firmly set in the old county of Wessex. And Dickens, famous for his insomnia and night-time prowling around London, experiencing the rich tapestry of life that infused so many of the characters in his books. And of course I enjoy contemporary fiction, but on balance I would say I favour character above location. They’re both important though!

TF: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me for TripFiction, Emma. Good luck with the rest of your Cornish series, and we look forward to finding out where your writing takes you – and us – after that.

You can follow Emma on Twitter and on Facebook, and you can buy her book through the TripFiction website.

Do come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

Subscribe to future blog posts