I have a study at the back of the house, overlooking our garden. It’s tiny, just wide enough to fit my desk in. The walls are covered with pin boards and art postcards from galleries all over the world, including Tate, MoMA, and Lenbachhaus. Emma Healey Read Quote
I really admire Ana Mendieta. She was a Cuban American artist who died the year I was born and whose work examines violence, feminism, and belonging. Her art is always brave and visually arresting and vibrates with meaning. Emma Healey Read Quote
I had tried to write about young women in London who had jobs and boyfriends, and it was so tedious. Emma Healey Read Quote
Although my father’s mother, Nancy, has dementia, and her experiences gave me ideas for some of the scenes in the book, it was my mother’s mother, Vera, who most influenced the character of Maud. Vera died in 2008, before I’d gotten very far into writing ‘Elizabeth Is Missing,’ but her voice is very like Maud’s. Emma Healey Read Quote
When I was writing my first novel, ‘Elizabeth is Missing,’ I was writing the only novel I had ever written and writing about the only protagonist I’d ever written about. Because of this, I didn’t think of her as a construct. Maud was real. Emma Healey Read Quote
There are lots of things going on for teenagers, with exam stress, changing friendship groups, becoming independent, and all those hormone changes affecting you. Emma Healey Read Quote
I’ve been surprised that ‘Elizabeth is Missing’ has been so well received as a crime book. I love mystery stories, and that is what I decided to write. Emma Healey Read Quote
