The idea for The Last Wife came to me when I was setting up a local book-group with a friend. While researching book-groups online I came across stories which suggested that not all book-clubs were friendly and welcoming. Reading some accounts of negative experiences really surprised me. 

Marie, the protagonist in The Last Wife, first appeared in my mind when I imagined a character who was trying to become part of an established book-group but was perhaps not going the right way about it. I knew that Marie would be a difficult person to like, especially as her actions and decisions are so questionable. I went to therapy ‘in character’ (a fiction psychotherapy service called Characters on the Couch) to dig deeper into the darkness inside Marie’s mind. I hoped that readers would like the insight into Marie’s inner thought processes as she justifies her dubious behaviour and decision-making to herself.

I also attended a five-day psychotherapy course for writers at the Faber Academy in London. Psychotherapy really interests me.  Marie attends sessions with various therapists throughout The Last Wife as she tries to unpack her decisions, her friendship with Nina, who has now passed away and whose dying wishes she intends to carry out, plus Marie’s uncomfortable feelings about the reappearance of a friend from her past. 

Marie is a photographer by profession, so I spent time with a photographer picking up tips, feeling the weight of various cameras, learning how to take better pictures and the terminology. Marie sees what she wants to see, so I liked the idea that when she took photographs, she would decide what she was going to reveal to her clients and what she was going to hold back.

A part of Marie’s motivation and reasoning for her actions is her desperation to have a baby. When her partner has an affair and the other woman gets pregnant immediately, this increases Marie’s distress. Although I’m now fortunate enough to have children, I have experienced fertility issues in the past, so I drew on some of those feelings and experiences when writing about Marie’s issues.

The Last Wife is set in a vast forest and on the beautiful island of Ibiza. I liked the idea of Marie living in the woods: a place so stunning by day, yet menacing come darkness or bad weather. Ibiza is one of my favorite places to visit. The beaches are incredible and as it also has a reputation for being a party place, I thought this would be a good setting for the younger Marie to visit with her friends.

As well as researching melanoma and grief, I also read stories of missing people on a website which helps families of those who sadly go missing abroad. I sought forensic advice for a gruesome scene later on in the book as well as attending a weekend course for crime fiction writers to learn more about forensics and solving serious crimes.

Threading all the research together while writing The Last Wife was just one of the very enjoyable things about writing this book. Images of all the places and scenarios came alive in my mind while I attempted to translate them onto the page.

Karen Hamilton spent her childhood in Angola, Zimbabwe, Belgium and Italy and worked as a flight attendant for many years. Karen is a recent graduate of the Faber Academy and, having now put down roots in Hampshire to raise her young family with her husband, she satisfies her wanderlust by exploring the world through her writing. She is also the author of the international bestseller The Perfect Girlfriend.