Emily Bell
AUTHOR

Emily Bell

Literature & Fiction | Romance
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Hi, I’m Emily – thank you for browsing my book page. I can remember clearly when the idea for Baby It’s Cold Outside came to me. It was November 2020 and I was standing in the mud in Clissold Park, my local park in North London – it’s a lovely place but I was completely sick of it by that point in lockdown. I was thinking about all the things I used to take for granted: like travel, and live music, and seeing people who live far away. As I stood there an image came to me of a woman hurrying towards Bewley’s café on Grafton Street in Dublin. I didn’t know who she was or where she was from, but I knew she was there to meet someone important from her past … I started writing the book shortly after and it became somewhere I could escape into during lockdown, as I delved into the story of Norah Jones (not that one ...) and her family, friendships and love life over ten years. Authors are a bit like magpies in that they pick up bits and pieces from their lives and re-use them in their nest, I mean book. Norah’s trip to Italy, where she meets Andrew, was partly inspired by travels with friends and partly by a trip I made by myself when I was twenty-five … I wandered around galleries in Venice, and went to the opera in Verona just like Norah does, and although I didn’t meet a handsome stranger I had to leave when the open air performance was interrupted by rain, just as in the book. Norah’s friends in London were partly inspired by my husband’s group of friends who all met in a drama club in their teens. And when writing about the loss of Norah’s dad, I knew I was also writing about my own father who died in October 2018. The story is about losing people but it’s also about finding them again – whether through reunions, music or memories. In terms of the central love story, I wanted to write about the idea of the one that got away – as well as the one that’s been under your nose the whole time. We all have some form of both in our past, even though we might not quite face the same dilemma as Norah ... Lastly, the book is a love letter to Dublin, where I grew up. I wrote the book over winter 2020 when, like millions of people all over the world, I was unable to return home for Christmas. I couldn’t visit my family, but at least I could write about all my favourite places and things to do – like a coffee in Bewley’s, a drink in Grogan's or a walk on Killiney Hill. The book helped me escape at a time when I really needed it, and I hope it helps readers escape too. Happy reading!
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Last Christmas at Ballyclare

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