Without giving Maggie's story away and spoiling it for future readers, I will tell you about the places The Little Terrace of Friendships is set. I will start at the beginning…
It all starts in south Devon and since Maggie earns her living as a cleaner, I choose Torquay due to the quantity of hotels. Part way through the story Maggie returns to Devon for a few days and visits two of my favourite places. Brixham has a beautiful harbour where you can watch the fishing boats come and go, and it also has the best fish and chips in all the world well that's my opinion. Secondly Dartmouth where you can sit and watch the boats going up and down the river and see the Dart railway steam train on the other side of the river full of happy holiday makers. Also a big must in Dartmouth is that they have some of the best ice cream not forgetting the full fat clotted cream on the top. Just two perfect days out in Devon
Ninety percent of the story is set in London, so when Maggie moves there, the story revolves around her cleaning for the rich and famous, hence Kensington was a perfect choice. Back in the 1980s I remember staying in a guest house, in Kensington, where the rooms were huge and my memories from that house were perfect for my book. This sort of location is home to so many types of people, that I really wanted to add more characters but had to stop.
I needed Maggie to go on holiday so I picked New York. Unfortunately I’ve never been but thanks to the internet, I was able to research everything from shopping in Bloomingdales and Saks, to visiting the fabulous Metropolitan museum. I loved researching New York, and it led to the creation of a new character, Rebecca. She is a very rich, bitter and twisted New York socialite who doesn’t give a damn who she upsets. She was one my favourite characters to write, so I made sure she popped up again later in London.
After New York, Maggie and model Tammy go to Martha's Vineyard for two weeks. Why did I choose this? Because it looks so beautiful from the stunning houses, to the beaches and the famous lighthouses. Sadly again the research was done on the good old internet. Since I've been promoting the book on Twitter I have had so many lovely residents from the vineyard contacting me with photos, suggestions of places to visit and eat, which has been so much fun. In the story there's a seat looking out to sea and one lovely lady sent me a photo on Twitter of the seat she thought it could be. Which was a lovely thing to do.
So that's the places The Little Terrace of Friendship is set, but really they could be anywhere in the world because Maggie's story is all about friendships and how friends get together to celebrate, commiserate and be together. As if you've got good friends who love you, for being you, what else do you need?
Thank you so much Ian Wilfred for sharing how you picked the multitude of settings for your new book The Little Terrace of Friendships. Thank you also to Ian for being such a huge supporter of Rachel's Random Reads, I often find he has been RTing things from my blog or twitter feed for hours before I have even woken up. I greatly appreciate your support.
Ian Wilfred is 50+ but in his head he will always be 39. He lives on the Norfolk coast with his husband and west highland terrier. His perfect day would be to walk the dog on the beach, drink lots of coffee and write, but in real life after walking the dog, Ian goes off to work.
His first book Putting Right The Past was published in 2013 and set on the island of Tenerife. The Little Terrace of Friendships is Ian's second book.
You can follow Ian on Twitter at @ianwilfred39 (he will always be 39)
It all starts in south Devon and since Maggie earns her living as a cleaner, I choose Torquay due to the quantity of hotels. Part way through the story Maggie returns to Devon for a few days and visits two of my favourite places. Brixham has a beautiful harbour where you can watch the fishing boats come and go, and it also has the best fish and chips in all the world well that's my opinion. Secondly Dartmouth where you can sit and watch the boats going up and down the river and see the Dart railway steam train on the other side of the river full of happy holiday makers. Also a big must in Dartmouth is that they have some of the best ice cream not forgetting the full fat clotted cream on the top. Just two perfect days out in Devon
Ninety percent of the story is set in London, so when Maggie moves there, the story revolves around her cleaning for the rich and famous, hence Kensington was a perfect choice. Back in the 1980s I remember staying in a guest house, in Kensington, where the rooms were huge and my memories from that house were perfect for my book. This sort of location is home to so many types of people, that I really wanted to add more characters but had to stop.
I needed Maggie to go on holiday so I picked New York. Unfortunately I’ve never been but thanks to the internet, I was able to research everything from shopping in Bloomingdales and Saks, to visiting the fabulous Metropolitan museum. I loved researching New York, and it led to the creation of a new character, Rebecca. She is a very rich, bitter and twisted New York socialite who doesn’t give a damn who she upsets. She was one my favourite characters to write, so I made sure she popped up again later in London.
After New York, Maggie and model Tammy go to Martha's Vineyard for two weeks. Why did I choose this? Because it looks so beautiful from the stunning houses, to the beaches and the famous lighthouses. Sadly again the research was done on the good old internet. Since I've been promoting the book on Twitter I have had so many lovely residents from the vineyard contacting me with photos, suggestions of places to visit and eat, which has been so much fun. In the story there's a seat looking out to sea and one lovely lady sent me a photo on Twitter of the seat she thought it could be. Which was a lovely thing to do.
So that's the places The Little Terrace of Friendship is set, but really they could be anywhere in the world because Maggie's story is all about friendships and how friends get together to celebrate, commiserate and be together. As if you've got good friends who love you, for being you, what else do you need?
Thank you so much Ian Wilfred for sharing how you picked the multitude of settings for your new book The Little Terrace of Friendships. Thank you also to Ian for being such a huge supporter of Rachel's Random Reads, I often find he has been RTing things from my blog or twitter feed for hours before I have even woken up. I greatly appreciate your support.
Maggie Hosking is in her early sixties, and she lived in Devon with a husband who never worked and took her for granted. But now Maggie is going to have an adventure of a lifetime taking her to London, New York and Martha’s Vineyard.
All her working life Maggie has been a cleaner in hotels and private homes. Maggie cleaned for actress Helen Heacham’s parents until their deaths, when Helen moved Maggie up to London to take care of her home. Helen lives in a beautiful terrace in Kensington along with famous and not so famous neighbours. Actors, writers, models and businessmen; they all seem to need a cleaner and that’s when Maggie’s adventure starts.
It’s not just Maggie’s life that’s changing but big things are happening for the other residents in the terrace; success, romance and fraud, but most of all friendship.
About Ian Wilfred
His first book Putting Right The Past was published in 2013 and set on the island of Tenerife. The Little Terrace of Friendships is Ian's second book.
You can follow Ian on Twitter at @ianwilfred39 (he will always be 39)
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