Lights Out Liverpool (56 page)

My mother-in-law was a strange woman. She hated the world and everyone in it. We had a wary sort of relationship. She gave Richard’s brother an awful life – she was very controlling and he never left home. She died in the early nineties and for the next few years my kind, gentle brother-in-law had a relationship with a wonderful woman who ran an animal sanctuary. People tend to keep their
family
problems private but you don’t have to look further than your immediate neighbours to see how things really are and I try to reflect that in my books.

You don’t have to look further than your immediate neighbours to see how things really are

Is there anything you’d change about your life?

I don’t feel nostalgic for my youth, but I do feel nostalgic for the years when I was a young mum. I didn’t anticipate how I’d feel when the boys left home. I just couldn’t believe they’d gone and I still miss them being around although I’m very happy that they’re happy.

Are friendships important to you?

Vastly important. I always stay with Margaret when I visit Liverpool and we email each other two or three times a week. Old friends are the best sort as you have shared with them the ups and downs of your life. I have other friends in Liverpool that I have known all my adult life. I have also made many new ones who send me things that they think will be useful when I write my books.

Have you ever shared an experience with one of your characters?

Richard’s son from his first marriage recently got in touch with us. It was quite a shock as he’s been in Australia for most of his life and we’ve never known him. He turned out to be a charming person with a lovely family. I’ve written about long-lost family members returning in
Kitty and Her Sisters
and
The Leaving of Liverpool
so it was strange for me to find my life reflecting the plot of one of my books.

Describe an average writing day for you
.

Wake up, Richard brings me tea in bed and I watch breakfast television for a bit. Go downstairs at around 8 a.m. with the intention of doing housework. Sit and argue with Richard about politics until it’s midday and time to go to my shed and start writing. Come in from time to time to make drinks and do the crossword. If I’m stuck, we might drive to Sainsbury’s for a coffee and read all the newspapers we refuse to have in the house. Back in my shed, I stay till about half seven and return to the house in time to see
EastEnders
.

By Maureen Lee

THE PEARL STREET SERIES

Lights Out Liverpool

Put Out the Fires

Through the Storm

Stepping Stones

Liverpool Annie

Dancing in the Dark

The Girl from Barefoot House

Laceys of Liverpool

Copyright

AN ORION EBOOK

First published in Great Britain in 1995 by Orion.
First published in ebook in 2011 by Orion Books.

Copyright © Maureen Lee 1995

The moral right of Maureen Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978 1 4091 3881 5

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