Kate Mosse: ‘Brexit has made this a divided and ugly country’ – The Telegraph

Best thing youve ever written?

I really feel that An Extra Pair of Hands is the most important thing Ive written. Truthfully, it took me a long time to decide whether to write it, because its very personal, but almost all carers feel invisible. Its crucial for both full-time and part-time carers to feel theyre not alone, and we need to speak up for each other.

I visit archives, museums and libraries I love research but my fiction is inspired by place and landscape, so the most important part of my research is in my feet. I can walk the land, whether Amsterdam, Paris or the Pyrenees, and call it work.

My husband Greg and I were childhood sweethearts. We met at 15. The most joyous thing about our marriage is that we have shared references and a sense of a long life, lived together. The fact that our families have known each other for so long made it possible for my parents and his mother to live with us.

My mother-in-law is 91, and frustrated to be in a wheelchair and to be dependent, but shes absolutely the best company. Every evening when I finish work, she says: Is it time for a restorative? I make her a gin and tonic and pour myself a glass of wine, and we sit and chat. Its a great privilege to be able to care for somebody you love. Im in a very lucky position as a writer with a supportive family.

My decision to leave a career in publishing in 1992 to write my first book, Becoming a Mother, was instructive. I was having a lovely time but I knew I didnt want to become a CEO. I went from a full-time salary to writing a book for a small advance while my husband was training to be a teacher. It was a tough year but liberating to discover that it wasnt the end of the world.

The absence of women in history books. Women were always there too, but history books were and sometimes still are written in institutes of learning closed to women which is why I launched the #womaninhistory campaign in January last year.

When I was at Oxford, I went on a Reclaim the Night march, having lived a very sheltered life. It became disruptive, with people throwing things, and I was genuinely frightened. University opened my eyes to unfairness and prejudice. Its nice being in a bubble, but Im glad it burst.

It was really tough launching the prize [in 1996]. Its successful and respected now, but early on, people would look me in the eye and say If women were any good, theyd win the real prizes. In 1991, all the shortlisted authors for the Booker Prize were male. Women working back then were often told, If you cant stand the heat ie working with the kind of man who thought it was ok to put his hand up your skirt get out of the kitchen. Now, joyously, my children say: Why did anyone put up with that? Theres been a fantastic shift.

There are people with integrity onboth sides : people who believe Brexit is genuinely good for the country, and people who genuinely believe it is not. But between that, theres an awful lot of dishonesty and ill faith. Brexit has made this a divided and ugly country. Its made everything polarised and binary. Youre either for or against. I write about periods of history, and I know that while leaders would happily destroy everybody on the opposite team, mostpeople want to live in harmony with their neighbours and have friendships with people who dont have the same views.

Caring is a feminist issue. The vast majority of carers both paid and unpaid are women, and there isnt enough thought for those who need more support. The Carers Allowance is the lowest of any allowance, and many women have to give up their jobs in order to care. Its long been an election promise to sort out our care crisis, but its a can thats being kicked down the road.

Kate Mosses stage adaptation of her novel The Taxidermists Daughter is at the Chichester Festival Theatre from 830 April: cft.org.uk. Her latest novel, The City of Tears, is out now in paperback (8.99, Pan Macmillan)

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Kate Mosse: 'Brexit has made this a divided and ugly country' - The Telegraph