Q&A with Katherine Reay

Today, friends, we have quite the surprise...

Katherine Reay has stopped by for a visit!

Andrea Cox: The London House is in the new-to-you genre of time-slip fiction (featuring contemporary and the historical eras covering the years 1928-1941). While I’ve adored your contemporary stories and look forward to reading your single nonfiction title, I’m especially intrigued by this WWII-soaked book, as that’s one of my favorite genres. What drew you to time-slip for The London House? How did you decide to set part of the book during the Great Depression and World War II? Was it tricky for you to find the right balance between the contemporary and historical threads for the novel? If so, what was it that finally clicked for you?

Katherine Reay: Some amazing questions here! Slip-time is such an intriguing genre for me. I have previously written contemporary novels because I love looking at literature and the past with an eye to the present -- to address our lives and stories in the here and now. Split-time uniquely allowed me to not only explore the past, but draw that intrigue and even those lessons into the present  -- in a “real time” fashion. I loved it and found it an incredibly dynamic format, almost creating a conversation between past and present. As for the time period -- the Interwar years and WWII simply offered that perfect mix of situation and emotion to address the themes I wanted to explore in the contemporary storyline. It all simply fit together well. 

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