Francesca Kay

What sparked An Equal Stillness?
Whiteness in the first place. Snow and ice, polar exploration and the idea of emptiness – which is also a theme in art. Being interested in the ways that creative artists find to confront that emptiness, I began to imagine one of them, a painter, Jennet Mallow.

Please set the scene of the novel for us.
The novel is in the form of a biography. It describes Jennet Mallow’s life, from her birth in Yorkshire in 1924 to her death 76 years later, with reference to the paintings she makes during that time. The paintings reflect her development, the things that happen to her, and the places where she lives – not only Yorkshire but also Cornwall, Spain in the early 1950s, and London in the 1960s. Although Jennet is a fictitious character, she lives her life against the backdrop of real places at real times. And, although she faces particular challenges as an artist at a time when it was harder for a woman to succeed than it is now, she, like the rest of us, also struggles to make sense of a whole life, with its complicated tangle of relationships, its duties and desires. Jennet is a daughter, mother, wife and lover; an artist and an ordinary woman who cooks and cleans, brings up her children, loves unwisely, is loved in her turn.

Do you have a particular attachment to any of the characters or places in the novel? If so, which one(s) and why?
I have great respect for Jennet Mallow, and affection too. I had almost finished writing the novel before I realised that she hardly says a word throughout it. She may sometimes seem to be the victim of events rather than their instigator, but in no way is she passive or inexpressive. Instead she is fiercely creative, with that edge of ruthlessness that, I suspect, all serious artists must acquire. The decisions she makes may not be the ones that other wives and mothers would make but they are forced on her in the end by the urgent need to stay true to her vision. As someone who cannot paint at all, I envied her the possession of such power. Light and colour, water, stone are vital elements in Jennet’s work and in mine as well. I have loved all the places I describe in the novel but the one that is closest to my heart, because it is there that land, sea and sky meet in a most luminous and inspiring way, is the far west of Cornwall.

What are you reading at the moment?
James Salter’s stories.

What are you working on now?
A second novel.  But at the moment those blank white spaces – or pages in this case - are defending their emptiness well!