Five million copies sold in 31 languages, an MBE for contributions to literature, and a Sunday Times bestselling author – Adele Parks tells us why Whitby is her inspiration
As a child, our family’s most regular seaside spot was Whitby, North Yorkshire – a higgledy-piggledy coastal town, and it’s a place I still love. Often the sky is a crisp blue, sometimes it’s more of a mauve colour with damson clouds with strong, imposing smudges.
I realise the north-east is sometimes incorrectly thought of as cold and grey, but I always think of Whitby as shimmering: lustrous, turquoise waves are breaking on the sand, turning it pink and peach by turn.
Besides the riot of colour, my senses were continually assaulted by smells – the sea itself, fishing nets and creosote, vinegar seeping into newspaper, and even smoke from the chimneys.
The coastline and the town are cheek by jowl; the experience of building sandcastles on the little beach or walking along the clifftops is intrinsically woven into memories of visiting this traditional fishing town. The narrow, steep streets are awash with independent shops (many selling the famous Whitby jet), tea shops and cafés selling fresh crab or fried fish and chips.
I wanted to be a writer since I was a child, and maybe that is another reason I’m especially drawn to this dramatic coastline that has attracted literary greats for centuries. Lewis Carroll lived there and wrote for the local newspaper, possibly while sitting on these sands looking out to sea. Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell both visited. The imposing ruined seventh-century abbey sits on the clifftop, still dominating. It is said that Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula is buried in the nearby graveyard.
First Wife’s Shadow by Adele Parks (£9.99, Harper Collins) is out now.
INTERVIEW SUSIE ATKINSON
