EMMA COWELL

The bestselling summer summer reads author runs through five books that inspired her writing

Under the Lemon Tree is a story about hope, healing and heritage that takes place beneath the clear blue skies of Agistri, a beautiful Greek island. It is a story from a female perspective as my novels all are to date and, although my books are standalone, they always seem to contain common themes of grief, love, friendship and family secrets. Under The Lemon Tree is about a Greek family who live in London and my protagonist, Katérina, is reeling from the death of her twin brother. She is at a crossroads in her life, her marriage is over and she is unsatisfied with her career. Having moved back to her parents’ house at the age of thirty-seven, the comfort of family feels both soothing and suffocating. But everything changes when she inherits a house on a breathtaking Greek island from a mysterious uncle she’s never met. This unexpected family secret leads her to uncover her roots in Greece but she unearths much more than she could ever have predicted, and nothing will ever be the same for her or her family.

Given that my novels are set in different corners of Greece, the country almost becomes another character and is integral to the plot. I always start with the location, often a place that has captured my imagination or heart or both! Agistri is a small island an hour on the boat from Athens and is magical in its beauty and simplicity. I first visited when I was writing my third novel during an island-hopping trip and it dug under my skin. I knew I had to set a book there. The next part of my thinking is to form an idea about who the female lead is and where she is in her life when the story starts. Although I’m not a plotter and much more of a ‘pantster’, before I begin writing I am clear about the beginning and the end with a vague notion of the drama that occurs in the middle. The bits in between… that’s the tricky part! I’ve learnt to scribble a few plot points four or five chapters ahead of where I am in an effort to make the process less painful, but my characters can sometimes lead me astray, so I don’t stick fastidiously to my best (ish) laid plans.