Vanessa McCausland tell Peninsula Living about the inspiration behind her latest book, Dreaming in French.
Balgowlah author Vanessa McCausland always had her head in a book as a child. She was destined to write, even though she says she wrote bad poetry as a teen. She studied Australian literature and French in university, before embarking on a long career as a journalist.
Vanessa penned her first novel while on maternity leave with her daughter, now 13.
“While it was a very exciting experience, the novel didn’t really take off. So I thought, ‘I’m not going to do that again!’” Vanessa says.
She didn’t give up her day job but she gave fiction another shot. Now she has just published her fourth novel, Dreaming in French, which is based on an island off the west coast of France.
The novel tells the story of Australian woman Saskia, who is married to Dylan with two kids. It involves a remote island, old friend Simone, an unexpected inheritance and a crumbling villa – and don’t forget Felix, a famous movie star who she hasn’t seen for over 20 years.
The story moves seamlessly between the present day and the time when 19-year-old Saskia fell in love with Île de Re while working on the island as an au pair. Vanessa also worked as an au pair on Île de Re at that age, and the island has stayed with her over the years.
“I did live on the island, but unfortunately I didn’t meet a French film star,” Vanessa laughs. “Or a French heiress.”
“It’s a stunning place and quite an unknown part of France in some ways. It’s the little island that all the wealthy Parisians go to, a well-kept secret,” Vanessa says.
Vanessa says that moving away from home at 19 back then with no mobile phones or email was daunting, and she wanted to show that in Saskia.
“I wanted Saskia to tap back into that that bravery in her midlife in order to really find the strength to do what she needed to do.”
Saskia needs strength in Dreaming in French as she is a victim of coercive control and suffers anxiety. Vanessa knows how this can affect someone.
“The fact that (Saskia is) in a coercive control relationship – that’s something that I have experienced myself. That’s quite an important part of her journey and her struggle with anxiety, (which is) something that I face as well.”
“I knew from the start the nature of Saskia’s relationship with Dylan. I knew that was something that I was going to go into,” Vanessa says.
Vanessa allows her characters to reveal themselves to her as she writes.
“It’s a very slow process discovering these characters. It almost feels like they’re letting you know what their story is. You look back and think, ‘did that all just come from my brain?’ It’s just day by day, sitting down with it and seeing what comes.”
She loves the writing process and likes to edit as she writes, reading back what she did the previous day.
“I really love the writing itself,” she says. “I love words and making it sound beautiful and creating an image.”
Is she a planner or a pantser – someone who writes off the seat of their pants.
“I write in a linear way, as though I’m reading. I like to have a bit of a guide, but then some books are completely ‘pantsed,’” Vanessa explains. “It’s a combination, but I’m certainly not a spreadsheet person – that’s not how my creative brain works.”
Dreaming in French is published by Harper Collins and available at bookstores.