MR: I take inspiration from many writers. Is Dickens a big inspiration? What other authors or works inspire you? Q: I read that you got the idea for The Secret of Matterdale Hall when rereading Nicholas Nickleby. Marianne lives in Cheshire with her wife and two dogs. In 2017, redundancy spurred her to focus on creative writing the result being The Secret of Matterdale Hall, a sapphic romance/mystery set in the Victorian era.

She has had short stories published in literary magazines and was runner up in the Guildford Book Festival short story competition in 2010.

A biochemist by training, she has always found creating new worlds and interesting characters every bit as rewarding as discoveries at a laboratory bench. Marianne Ratcliffe grew up in Lincolnshire. This boosted my confidence enough to attempt writing novels. I started with short stories and had some success, including being runner up in the 2010 Guildford Literary Festival short story competition. I’d realized it was possible to write enjoyable, engaging books without necessarily being a literary genius. By that time, I had broadened my reading beyond the classics and felt less intimidated about the possibility of joining the ranks of novelists. There, I rediscovered my love of writing. In my mid-thirties, on a whim, I attended an evening class in creative writing. I’d loved writing stories as a child, but never believed I could create anything as wonderful as the books of my favorite authors. Austen, Dickens, Trollope, the Brontës, I devoured them all.Īt that point, I had no idea I would write books. My love for the books of the 18th and 19th century sprung from that moment. I can still remember the smell of old pages and my excitement (and surprise) to realize I was holding something special. The first one I opened was Emma, and I was entranced from the very first line.

With most of our possessions packed away, I found a half-filled box of Everyman’s Library Classics. In the summer of 1988, we moved house, as my dad had a new job. Enid Blyton was a favorite, especially Malory Towers.

Growing up in Lincolnshire in the 1970s, I was something of a contradiction an active tomboy who also loved to read. Marianne Ratcliffe: Books have always been important to me.

Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke