FIRST IMPRESSIONS: ROSE TREMAIN
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve just completed a collection of short stories, The American Lover. I’m doing a third draft of my screenplay of The Colour, my novel about young emigrants from Norfolk who go to New Zealand to farm but are turned aside by the lure of the 1860s New Zealand gold rush. And I’m adapting Balzac’s tragedy, Eugénie Grandet, for radio.
When were you at your happiest?
Waking up in my grandparents’ big house in Hampshire at the age of six or seven and seeing the sunlit snow on the lawns on Christmas morning.
What is your greatest fear?
Damage or hurt of any kind to my loved ones.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting on a hard chair at the Francis Holland Kindergarten in London, participating in a morning ritual called ‘hands and hankies’. You had to show your nails were clean and that you owned a hankie – I can’t remember whether I always had a hankie or not.
What do you dislike about yourself?
My difficult to- suppress desire to be right about things.
What is your most treasured possession?
My house in Norfolk. I’ve lived here for nearly 30 years. It’s a house that has always sheltered people – not just me – very benignly. Now my grandchildren get excited about coming here.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I’m getting through a lot of years, so there’s not much to like any more. Even my feet look slightly warped these days.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Self-obsessed people: they are always deficient in empathy. Without empathy, society is doomed.
What is your favourite book?
Almost everything by Cormac McCarthy, particularly The Crossing and The Road. His evocation of internal and external wildernesses is heartbreakingly good.
Your favourite film?
Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient: a rare instance of a film adaptation that is superior to the book it’s adapted from. I’ve been in love with Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas ever since.
Your favourite piece of music?
The slow movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. But if I could never listen to Leonard Cohen’s Famous Blue Raincoat again I’d feel emotionally deprived.
Your favourite meal?
Beef Carpaccio with rocket and mustard sauce, followed by grilled calamari and spinach. Or, koukia and pastourma followed by grilled jumbo prawns and a Greek salad.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Aside from Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas and Leonard Cohen, you mean? Well, bring me Shakespeare. Let the dinner last a long, long time.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
‘You’re seriously crap at riding.’
What is your secret vice?
I don’t think I have any. I have indulgences. Champagne is one, it’s the only drink that reliably raises my spirits.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes. I’m also bourgeois enough to expect to receive them when I send presents.
What would most improve the quality of your life?
Not being so hypersensitive to the cold.
Can you tell us something people might not know about you?
I was captain of the lacrosse team at my boarding school and we once lost a match against New Hall School 32-0.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘She worked hard. She was a good listener. Her imagination was crazy.’
Rose Tremain is Chair of the Costa Book Of The Year judging panel, to be announced on 28 January. The American Lover will be published later this year.
I’ve just completed a collection of short stories, The American Lover. I’m doing a third draft of my screenplay of The Colour, my novel about young emigrants from Norfolk who go to New Zealand to farm but are turned aside by the lure of the 1860s New Zealand gold rush. And I’m adapting Balzac’s tragedy, Eugénie Grandet, for radio.
When were you at your happiest?
Waking up in my grandparents’ big house in Hampshire at the age of six or seven and seeing the sunlit snow on the lawns on Christmas morning.
What is your greatest fear?
Damage or hurt of any kind to my loved ones.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting on a hard chair at the Francis Holland Kindergarten in London, participating in a morning ritual called ‘hands and hankies’. You had to show your nails were clean and that you owned a hankie – I can’t remember whether I always had a hankie or not.
What do you dislike about yourself?
My difficult to- suppress desire to be right about things.
What is your most treasured possession?
My house in Norfolk. I’ve lived here for nearly 30 years. It’s a house that has always sheltered people – not just me – very benignly. Now my grandchildren get excited about coming here.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I’m getting through a lot of years, so there’s not much to like any more. Even my feet look slightly warped these days.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Self-obsessed people: they are always deficient in empathy. Without empathy, society is doomed.
What is your favourite book?
Almost everything by Cormac McCarthy, particularly The Crossing and The Road. His evocation of internal and external wildernesses is heartbreakingly good.
Your favourite film?
Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient: a rare instance of a film adaptation that is superior to the book it’s adapted from. I’ve been in love with Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas ever since.
Your favourite piece of music?
The slow movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. But if I could never listen to Leonard Cohen’s Famous Blue Raincoat again I’d feel emotionally deprived.
Your favourite meal?
Beef Carpaccio with rocket and mustard sauce, followed by grilled calamari and spinach. Or, koukia and pastourma followed by grilled jumbo prawns and a Greek salad.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Aside from Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas and Leonard Cohen, you mean? Well, bring me Shakespeare. Let the dinner last a long, long time.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
‘You’re seriously crap at riding.’
What is your secret vice?
I don’t think I have any. I have indulgences. Champagne is one, it’s the only drink that reliably raises my spirits.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes. I’m also bourgeois enough to expect to receive them when I send presents.
What would most improve the quality of your life?
Not being so hypersensitive to the cold.
Can you tell us something people might not know about you?
I was captain of the lacrosse team at my boarding school and we once lost a match against New Hall School 32-0.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘She worked hard. She was a good listener. Her imagination was crazy.’
Rose Tremain is Chair of the Costa Book Of The Year judging panel, to be announced on 28 January. The American Lover will be published later this year.