Good people of Felixstowe, greetings! Last time you heard from me I’d written two books. Now I’m hard at work on number seven. It’s amazing what a sea breeze and a hearty portion of fish and chips can do.
I’m the author of the Isabella M Smugge series, funny books about a pretentious influencer set in Suffolk. Whenever our heroine goes to the seaside (and there is a key scene in book four where she does just that), I always visualise her at Felixstowe, enjoying a fish supper from the Fish Dish, walking elegantly on the pier (her hair would never get stuck to her lip gloss, unlike that of her creator) and taking gorgeous photos of the Martello towers and the Edwardian architecture.
When Issy first left London and moved to a little Suffolk village with her hedge fund manager husband, Latvian au pair and three children, she had no idea what country life was all about. Snobbish, up herself and with no self-awareness, her experiences in the county are actually the making of her. Used to London glamour, she starts to appreciate the beautiful Suffolk scenery, the seaside, the promenades, the vistas and the people.
Ever since I moved from Essex to Suffolk eighteen years ago (and let me tell you I was nothing like Issy Smugge), our family have always headed for Felixstowe for beach fun, playing the machines at Mannings and enjoying delicious fish and chips. When the children were little, we used to go crabbing in Old Felixstowe and as they got older, we graduated to the more glamorous entertainment offered up the beach. It’s always been our favourite beach destination and it made sense to make it Issy’s when I began my fiction writing career.
So see you on the beach for fish and chips!
Ruth Leigh