For lovers of the fairytale world, you will love this imaginative combination of the tales of two classic French fairytales, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. I previously shared an inside look at Kell Wood’s last foray into the fairytale genre in last year’s After the Forest. The author’s latest novel does not disappoint. It gracefully weaves the tale of Lucinde, the youngest daughter of one of the wealthiest shipowners in the port of Saint-Malo. As Lucinde digs into her past, she makes discoveries along the way, including one that she never could have imagined in her wildest dreams.
First off let me say how much I loved the book. As a life long lover of fairytales this book had everything I love about them and more. When were you first inspired to write a novel that has elements of Cinderella and The Little Mermaid and yet is a unique and magical tale of its own?
Thank you so much, Christa, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. I guess the idea for Upon A Starlit Tide began with ‘The Little Mermaid’ fairy tale. It had always been one of my favorites – so dark and sad and beautiful – and I had been keen to do a re-telling of it for quite a few years. When I began, I wrote these words in a notebook: ‘It will be a dark, salty tale about sea-magic, loss, unrequited love, family, betrayal, self-discovery, and revenge.’ It didn’t take long for me to realize that I needed another tale to balance out the darkness, something sparkly and light. I quickly decided on ‘Cinderella.’ As the two tales came together, they quickly began to take on the shape of an entirely new story, and I did my best to preserve the key moments and characters from both tales for the fairy tale fans out there – things like glass slippers and sea witches.
What drew you to Saint Malo as the setting for the book?
Like After the Forest, which took a German fairy tale and set it in a real time in Germany, I wanted the book to be firmly grounded in a real place. I had two choices – Denmark for Hans Christian Andersen or France for Charles Perrault, who wrote the best-known version of ‘Cinderella’. I went with France because I wanted the setting to be reasonably warm and bright, with clear green water. When I started researching France’s coastal areas and came across Saint-Malo I knew it was the place. It’s located on a piece of coastline known as the Emerald Coast because of its gorgeous green water, and it has this fascinating privateering and shipbuilding history. The city itself is walled and surrounded by the sea on three sides – it looks like something out of a dream. It seemed like the perfect backdrop for the tale – a sea-side ‘kingdom’, an ‘aristocracy’ of ship-owners, a king-like merchant and his daughters. As well as that, Brittany has this amazing, often dark, folklore brimming with magical creatures and superstitions.
How much did you research the fae world before you started writing Upon a Starlit Tide?
Funnily enough, I wove in the fae creatures after the first draft or so. The process of writing every book has been different, and I approached this one by doing a lot of historical research first, to set myself (and, hopefully, the reader, firmly in the world of the story.) When I was comfortable with that, I focused on the magical elements – the fae, storm stone, mermaid lore, etc.
Which locations did you choose to feature specifically after visiting Saint Malo for yourself?
I did a lot of research and poring over Google Maps before we went to Saint-Malo, but there were a couple of surprises that made their way into the book, too. For example, in the opening chapter the reader sees Lucinde down on the beach – a place she isn’t allowed to be – before she sneaks back into her wealthy family’s walled mansion, or malouinière, without anyone noticing that she had gone. She does this by means of a tiny private chapel that sits half within and half without the mansion’s high stone walls. In the first few drafts, I had been struggling to find a way for Luce to get in and out of the malouinière without being seen. The idea of there being a chapel like that never occurred to me. However, when I visited Malouinière Le Ville Bague, one of the original mansions owned by Malouin ship owners in the eighteenth century, I noticed that it had a chapel exactly like the one I described in the book. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had found Luce’s means of escape. The beauty of the research trip!
What was your favorite scene to write?
I can’t say too much because of spoilers, but Chapter 17 was my favorite to write.
If Upon a Starlit Tide was turned into a feature film, who do you imagine in the roles of Luce, Samuel and Morgan?
Hmmm. I’m really not sure! In my character mood boards I used Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey (she played the mermaid in Pirates of the Caribbean) for Luce, and both Sam Claflin and Chris Hemsworth in his In the Heart of the Sea get up for Samuel. I never really found anyone who looked like the Morgan I see in my mind, but in the mood boards I used images of Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton and James Norton as Andrei in BBC’s War & Peace to set the mood.
If you could step into the world of any fairytale, which one would it be?
I would love to see a fairy tale forest, so I’ll say Snow White.
After reading Upon the Starlit Tide, I am already eagerly awaiting your next novel. Can we get a sneak peek at what fairytale(s) will be its inspiration?
Thank you, that’s so lovely of you. I can’t really say much about the new book yet, except that you can expect the weather to be somewhat colder!
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