Ask the Author: David Coubrough
Answered Questions (2)
David Coubrough
From a young age, I have always wanted to write; English was my favourite subject at school and the only one I excelled at. I’ve always expressed myself best in written words. I had tried my hand at plays, originally. But the novel allowed me to better explore the intricacies of dialogue and interaction, which had drawn me to playwriting in the first place. It simply took me to the age of 57 before I finished something I was happy with.
David Coubrough
As a boy, I’d often take the train from Paddington to Devon and Cornwall; my grandmother lived in Torquay, and an Aunt and Uncle on Bodmin Moor. On these long journeys, I’d read Agatha Christie and stare out of the train thinking about where her plots were headed. Then near Dawlish these red rocks would come into view and I’d feel I was in another world, one totally different to London’s suburbs. So you see, Cornwall, its coasts, small towns and countryside, always evoked for me something divorced from my everyday existence.
The novel is set in a real hotel called Tregenna Castle. It sits above St Ives, and has a view across the town and out to sea. When I would visit, in the late 60s/early 70s, the place seemed charged with magic; it had a long sweeping drive, a grand castellated façade, and the smell of fresh pines, sea air and escalonia greeted you when you got out of the car. Then there were the people … I was part of what felt like a club of families returning year after year. I was embracing adolescence among friends in a similar embrace; don’t we all remember and cherish that time in our lives? It was the highlight of the year, possibly the best time of our lives. I tried to capture this in the novel.
The novel is set in a real hotel called Tregenna Castle. It sits above St Ives, and has a view across the town and out to sea. When I would visit, in the late 60s/early 70s, the place seemed charged with magic; it had a long sweeping drive, a grand castellated façade, and the smell of fresh pines, sea air and escalonia greeted you when you got out of the car. Then there were the people … I was part of what felt like a club of families returning year after year. I was embracing adolescence among friends in a similar embrace; don’t we all remember and cherish that time in our lives? It was the highlight of the year, possibly the best time of our lives. I tried to capture this in the novel.
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