Sarah Rayner: Woman of the Hour Interview

Welcome to my Woman of the Hour interview where I talk to inspiring women I have met.
Please meet Sarah Rayner, best-selling novelist and publisher. Reading a Sarah Rayner Book is like having a no-holds-barred chat with a good friend.

Sarah is the author of five novels including the international bestseller One Moment, One Morning and the two follow-ups The Two Week Wait and Another Night, Another Day, all of which are set in Brighton, where she lives and works.

In 2014 Sarah self-published Making Friends with Anxiety: A warm, supportive book to help ease worry and panic. Its success led her to write more in the series along with Dr Patrick Fitzgerald. In 2017 Sarah founded the small press, Creative Pumpkin Publishing.

Q:  Sarah, what was your favourite book as a child? 

A:  I really couldn’t narrow it down to one favourite, can I have more? When I was very small, it was Mrs Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter. I loved it so much I went through it writing the word ‘dear’ every time her name was mentioned, only I wrote it ‘daer’. Later, it was C S Lewis and my favourite of his Narnia series was The Magician’s Nephew – I particularly relished the wicked whip-cracking woman who rode atop a Hansom cab. A few years after that, it was the Anne books by L M Montgomery, along with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series. I read my box sets again and again.

The wonderful Mrs Tiggy-Winkle

Q:  Name one thing you would put in Room 101.

A:  Oh gosh, one again. Actually, let’s make it matter. Donald Trump. I think the world would be far better off without him.

Q:  Do you have a favourite place to go (in the UK or abroad) that restores you?

A:  It used to be my mother’s home in the country. It was a rambling farmhouse with a large garden which she looked after beautifully. She is now 85 and had to leave it a few years ago. She now lives in a flat near me which is not the same for either of us, but she still has her cats and a pretty garden.

Q:  Westerns or Rom Coms and why?

A:  I’m not a massive fan of Rom Coms but have always hated Westerns. All that shooting and those endless dusty landscapes – I can think of more interesting things to tell stories about.

Q:  Do you collect anything?

A:  Not specifically, though I’m rubbish (ha!) at throwing things away.

Q:  What is your greatest fear now?

A:  What is happening environmentally. Nothing I’m experiencing personally matters as much as this does.

Amazon rainforest fires

Q:  Did you have a mentor?

A:  There are many wise and helpful people in my life and I’ll often ask for advice or feedback, but no one person who I’d call a mentor.

Q:  Greek Myths or Grimm’s Fairy Tales and why?

A:  Grimm’s Fairy Tales, no question. I love the originals in all their gory glory – the ugly sisters’ feet being amputated, for instance, to fit into that darn glass slipper. Disney has a lot to answer for, sanitising so many of them. Luckily, we had Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber to rectify matters; her re-tellings give each tale a feminist twist. They’re sexy too.

Q:  Who are your heroes?

A:  It depends on the arena, but from the top of my head: Siouxsie Sioux, Elizabeth Strout, Matisse, Federer. That would be a good dinner party even if the food was dire!

Siouxsie Sioux

Q:  What do you consider the bravest thing you’ve done?

A:  I’ve suffered from bouts of bad anxiety, and when I’m in that frame of mind, tackling pretty much anything takes courage. As a result, many anxious people are brave every day. So the bravest thing I’ve ever done was probably something quite ‘normal’ like going into work - when I’ve felt incredibly anxious it’s taken enormous effort. I’m much better these days as I understand anxiety more fully, but it wasn’t until my forties I learned how to manage it.  

Details of all Sarah Rayner's books here.

Thank you very much for answering my questions Sarah.

Woman of the Hour is published by Head of Zeus.