Will it be Kansas? -- or somewhere else? A new writing adventure by Sheena Wilkinson

I am transforming. Metamorphosing. Changing.  

No, I haven’t been translated into a donkey, as far as I know.

 

But very shortly my new publisher, HarperCollins Ireland, will announce my new novel, and in one very significant way it’s a huge departure for me, while in another way it’s very much in the tradition of my earlier books, especially my recent historical trilogy. 

The big difference is that it’s for adults, while my other books, though enjoyed by adults (possibly, if I’m honest, more than by younger readers) have all been written for teens.

 

I’m excited. This is the book I have been wanting to write for ages. I have always loved writing for young people and am passionate about the importance of giving them the very best writing and stories possible – after all, if I hadn’t had access to such quality when I was a child, I wouldn’t have become a reader, let alone a writer.

 

But just as I love reading all sorts of books, I also want the freedom to write all sorts of books. As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’ve loved experimenting with memoir, but my big project over the last few years has been this novel. It feels like, for the first time in a long time, what I write and what I love to read are the same. 

a little teaser from the cover 

                                                                    

By next month I’ll be able to talk freely about the novel, and show you the gorgeous cover, but for now I can say that it’s a bittersweet romantic comedy set against the turbulence of the 1930s, with a strong, endearing Irish heroine called April. The action takes place in a marriage bureau, but not all the happy endings are the ones you might expect. It's what I call feminist feelgood. I started it in lockdown, when I yearned to read books that were uplifting but substantial, and found myself going back to the novels of Dorothy L Sayers and discovering the author who has since become one of my favourites, Dorothy Whipple.

I do read authors who aren’t called Dorothy, but in the spirit of one last Dorothy, as I embark on the world of adult publishing, with different readers, different festivals and different – let’s hope more – reviewing opportunities, I wonder if I’ll feel I’m still in Kansas, or will the world look very different?

 

I can’t wait to find out.