Wednesday, August 19th
Chaired by Jackie McGlone
Baillie Gifford Main Theatre
Returning to the Book Fest yet again, Kate Mosse has now become one of the trademarks of the festival. Perhaps best known for her Languedoc Trilogy, featuring the novels Labyrinth, Sepulchre, and Citadel, last autumn Mosse published her first crime thriller, The Taxidermist’s Daughter. Set in her native Sussex in 1912, the book tells the tale of Connie, and of strange things that happened in the local Museum of Taxidermy ten years ago.
Mosse is at the Book Fest, not just to talk about her new novel, but also to mark the 10th anniversary of Labyrinth. Being welcomed to a fully packed Baillie Gifford Main Theatre, Mosse is joined by journalist and chair Jackie McGlone to chat about her books and the way forward.
The most obvious thing about Kate Mosse is that she’s extremely passionate about her work, and her digressions and anecdotes reflect an enthusiasm that is hard to match, even at a festival like this. Starting off as an author of adventure stories, she is constantly developing, not only as a crime writer, but also as an author of plays and short stories. However, every work tends to have in common a strong female hero (not heroine, as Mosse believes the word eludes to a woman being rescued as opposed to being the one doing the rescuing).
Perhaps the most exciting part of the event was when Mosse, when asked by an audience member, decided to share with us the plan for her latest literary project. In September, Mosse is ready to start working on her new series, a trilogy set in France, Holland, and South Africa respectively. According to the author, it will be a sort of “Romeo and Juliet story”, and revolve around a family of French Huguenots emigrating to South Africa in the 17th or 18th century (she has yet to decide).
Whatever the outcome of these plans may be, it seems obvious that the many fans of Kate Mosse are up for a treat. However, it might also mean that Mosse won’t make it back to the Book Fest for a couple of years, as she expects this to be her largest project to date. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org