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Mari Hannah on the close-to-home events behind her new novel
I'm often asked where my ideas come from. You might imagine that my upcoming title came from an idea scribbled down long ago and placed in a box for the right moment to bring it to life. That's pretty much how the selection process goes, except The Longest Goodbye is not a story to which normal circumstances apply. This is the book I never wanted to write, one born out of an experience I buried long ago, a shocking and traumatic moment in my life that stayed with me.
I was at home one morning when I heard the tail end of breaking news on the radio: a female Northumbria police officer had been shot in the back at close range, causing life-threatening injuries. I froze. Two years earlier, I'd begun a relationship with a Northumbria detective sergeant who was on duty that day. I don't scare easily, but I had to sit down and remind myself to breathe.
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'For me, writing [was] a question of survival...I could not trust anyone, even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned. People even in your own family could turn you in.'