My original inspiration for this story was the stunning landscape of the Marlborough Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand, which I fell in love with on holidays and sailing trips. These sea drowned river valleys offer a more gentle landscape than more well-known fjords, as the shale soils have eroded to rounded bush-clad hills, valleys and bays.

I first sketched out ideas for the novel as a project for an Advanced Creative Writing Course. I wondered if it was possible, in middle-age, to walk out of one life, leave it completely behind, and start another. This is what I asked my protagonist, Ellen, to do. Immediately she was bumping into characters, sculpted by the environment of the Sounds, that also provided them with their livelihood. The simple life Ellen dreamed of living soon became complicated.

A one-page summary of the plot, revealed the story ending in multiple deaths in the style of a Shakespearian tragedy. The tutor managed to persuade me this is not what people want to read, the ending had to offer hope. I have since written three other endings. I hope you like the one I have chosen!