Lucy Barker: 'I love the minutiae of the human experience and this premise offered it all'
BY Katie Smart
18th Oct 2022
Lucy Barker took our six-month Writing Your Novel course in 2014 and went on to be named the runner-up in the 2019 Curtis Brown First Novel Prize. She is now represented by Curtis Brown literary agent Lucy Morris and her debut The Other Side of Mrs Wood has been bought by Fourth Estate in an exciting two-book deal.
We spoke to Lucy about her time studying with us, her writing routine and what advice she has to share with aspiring authors thinking of applying to a course or entering a competition.
You studied on our six-month Writing Your Novel course in 2014 – how did the course impact your approach to writing?
The course impacted me from the moment I pressed send on the application (the night of the deadline, of course). It was the first time I ever took myself seriously as a writer. It made me think beyond the anxiety of being talentless, and instead think about the possibilities of what might happen if I learned how to do it properly. I’ve written since I can remember and my overriding dream has always been to be a published author, but I never thought it would happen. Authors were other people. Better people, smarter people, thinner people. Every now and again I’d think about doing a course, then buy some wine instead. After hearing about Curtis Brown Creative I began looking at it lustfully every few months or so and then in a New Year moment I suddenly realised that if I wanted to call myself a writer, I had to invest in myself as a writer. So I did. And I’ve never looked back.
Many writers find a group of trusted readers on our courses, are you still in touch with any of your course mates?
Absolutely! Frances Quinn (The Smallest Man & That Bonesetter Woman) and Kate Clarke are my writer wives. They read everything I write and are always there for brainstorming, from a brand new ending to the structure of a single sentence. I would not be here without those two forces of nature and I am unendingly grateful that I found them. This Circle often extends to Amy Hoskins and Cler Lewis too who are both absolute stonkers in terms of writing and support.
Your debut book The Other Side of Mrs Wood is to be published by Fourth Estate. It follows two rival mediums in Victorian London. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
I’ve always been fascinated by Mediums and I studied the Victorian period for my Masters. It’s such a great century with so much happening. So when I found the story of Agnes Guppy and Florence Cook I had a quiet moment of eiphany. Agnes Guppy was probably the most successful Medium of the Victorian period, a woman who worked relentlessly and publicly for decades but was never exposed. When Florence Cook came on the scene in the early 1870s, Agnes was in her early forties and Florence was fifteen, pretty and up for anything. Florence soon attracted wealthy (male, obvs) patrons allegedly putting Agnes’ nose out of joint. When Florence started performing full spirit materialisations, Agnes was so incensed that she allegedly said that she wished someone would throw acid into her ‘doll-face’. I think we can safely dismiss that as malicious gossip spread by another slighted American Medium, but the man she would go on to marry did try and grab Florence’s materialised spirit and ended up losing half his beard (and a lot of his dignity) in the ensuing rugby tackle.
The idea of this tussle between two brilliant women was irresistible, exploring that fear of impending irrelevance on the one hand and the giddy heights of youthful success on the other, with all the juicy bits in between. I love writing about the idiosyncrasies of people and places and things – I love the minutiae of the human experience and this premise offered it all. My (now) editor said when she was reading it for the first time that it reminded her of Jane Austen and I will totally take that.
How did you approach your historical research?
I tend to do a little research, write a little, do a little research, write a little. If something crops up in my research that affects what I’ve already written, I just rewrite those elements – I’m quite good at holding the novel and its threads in my head. That said, I was quite lazy going for the Victorian period because I studied it in detail for my Masters ten years ago, so that was half the battle done. Research is a great way to avoid writing, too. I spent days, probably weeks, possibly months, looking at maps from the 1870s and 80s to figure out the perfect home for Mrs Wood and her Circle – old maps are definitely my happy place. I could walk 1870s Notting Hill blindfolded.
You entered an early draft of The Other Side of Mrs Wood into the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize – and were named runner-up. Do you have any advice to share with the aspiring authors reading this, those who are thinking of submitting to competitions or perhaps applying to a writing course?
Do it. I know that’s not very original but there are two reasons why I say this:
- Writing courses offer so much more than technique. This is where you do your networking. You will never have the opportunity to sit in a room of people who are as scared as you about sharing their writing. And you’re pretty much guaranteed that at least one of them will go on to become one of your biggest cheerleaders. Yes, you’ll learn how to plot, build tension, create characters and write a letter that will bag you an agent which is all essential skill-building and unmissable, but most of all you’ll learn that you’re not alone.
- Submitting to competitions makes you focus on the craft. You hone and you hone to make sure your submission is the best it can be. Just that process alone is a huge lesson. And you never know, you may be runner-up (which we all know is much, much cooler than actually winning).
Part of your runner-up prize was an offer of representation, and now you are represented by Curtis Brown agent Lucy Morris. Was there any point before signing the client agreement where things ‘clicked’, and you knew Lucy was the right agent for you?
I knew Lucy was The One when she rang to say ‘you haven’t won, but I want to represent you’ and didn’t change her mind when I scream/cried. Lucy is one of the all-time greats. She got what I was trying to say in the blink of an eye and was able to help me articulate my vision and shape it into something that worked. She’s honest, funny and FULL of ideas. She’s also tenacious, level-headed and wise, which is endlessly helpful as I’m ruled purely by my heart. Honestly, I couldn’t have done this without her.
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
I’m a mum of two young-ish kids and a freelance copywriter so every day is different. I try and write for at least an hour every day, but if I don’t have copy or parenting to do and I haven’t started a True Crime doc on Netflix that I simply have to finish, I’ll write from after school drop-off until I keel over/have to pick up the kids. Then I’m writing in my head until I can get back to my laptop again. I try and go away with Fran and Kate a couple of times a year to write, and those are deliciously long, hugely productive days that I yearn for the rest of the time I’m not there.
What books have you enjoyed reading lately?
Oh gosh. Where do I start? I’m totally undiscerning when it comes to genre – if you’ve got fantastic characters and a ripping yarn I am there.I read Rachel Joyce’s Miss Benson’s Beetle a few months ago and its brilliance has haunted me. Same with Cunning Women – just gorgeous writing. In the last month or so I’ve loved A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting, The Mercies, Fran’s The Bonesetter Woman and I recently spent a blissful week immersed in Sally Field’s autobiography. I’m half-way through Mrs March now and it’s so chilling and dark. I love it.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I have a two-book deal with Fourth Estate so right now I am sweating over my idea for Book Two. But the fact that someone actually wants me to write another one makes absolutely every single second of the past forty years of graft – from those first ‘novels’ I wrote at age 6 on my mum’s giant Underwood, to all the teenage angst short-stories on the electric Olivetti, to abandoned 20ks on various work computers – worth it. The cherry on top will be if another person reads it and likes it. Ugh. Let the new anxiety commence!
Pre-order your copy of The Other Side of Mrs Wood (out June 2023).
Are you an unpublished female writer (currently residing in the UK or Ireland)? Find out more about the Discoveries programme and how to enter your novel-in-progress here.