An Interview with Behind Her Eyes Author, Sarah Pinborough

If you follow me on social media, you’ll probably remember how shocked and amazed I was when I’d finished the book Behind Her Eyes. It was honestly one of the most amazing books I’ve read in such a long time and when I finished, I literally sat there for a good half hour, staring at the ceiling and contemplating everything that happened. I couldn’t believe it!!!
Finally, once the whirlwind in my mind had began to settle, I took to twitter to find other’s with great choice in books to see what they thought about it and decided to tag the author Sarah Pinborough. Little did I know something very exciting (for me anyway) was about to happen.

Sarah replied to my tweet, thanking me for my comments on how much I loved the book and, on a whim, I decided to reply asking if she would be up for doing a bit of an interview for my blog!!

 

She only went and said YES!!!!!!!

 

I sent her an email with all of the questions I had, none of them were about understanding the story line because it was easy to follow, it was more about things I’d wondered whilst reading, and a little about herself. Things I know fellow book lovers would also be interested in knowing.

You may remember my (no-spoilers) review on the book, if not, you should read that here before continuing with this post. You should definitely pick up your copy of the book next time you’re out and about, especially if you’re into the likes of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. You can pick up your copy for no more than £4 in Tesco, it’s also in a 2 for £7 deal and if you decide to do that, I will also recommend Pretty Girl’s by Karin Slaughter.

Now onto the interview, don’t worry, there are no spoilers what so ever so it’s safe to continue ❤

 

 

First of all, I’d just like to say a massive thank you for this interview, it honestly means so much to me and I’m certain my readers would love it.
Did you think or expect the book would have been as well received as it was

I was expecting it to be a love or hate book within the crime/thriller reading audience and it’s exactly that. I knew it would do quite well because I knew HarperCollins were putting a lot of marketing and effort behind it, but I’m very pleased with how people have really engaged with it. There are more lovers and than haters and that will do me;-)

The book was said to have “the most shocking ending you’ll read all year”, which was certainly true for me, but did you expect people to guess the ending earlier on?

It was a mixture of the two – I expected readers who knew some of my previous work to guess early, but I was writing for a different audience this time – the crime readers – so I hoped that it would shock most of them. The clues are all there though so I expected some people to get it early. The marketing worried me sometimes (brilliant as it was!) because I thought it might be ‘bigging it up’ a bit much, but it seems not as things turned out.;-)

The part about lucid dreaming, especially the “count your fingers” bit seemed incredibly realistic, is this something you’ve tried yourself, if not do you think it’s possible?

No I haven’t tried it. I don’t have the patience! I’m a very vivid dreamer though so I wanted to write about dreams, and the lucid dreaming was a natural extension of that. I’m don’t see why lucid dreaming couldn’t be real though – I guess it depends on how much in control of your consciousness you are.

 

Who was your favourite character and which did you relate to the most?

I think all women want to be Adele and we’re all Louise;-). I actually liked Louise’s best friend quite a lot (I’ve forgotten her name now!) – she was the sanest of all of them!

 

 

Some of the reviews I’ve read or watched on YouTube felt that Adam (Louise’s son) was a pointless character, although I didn’t agree as I felt his presence at the end was incredibly important to the story line, what do you think about this?

I hadn’t read those! Adam was definitely the character I had the most difficulty with because I needed him out of the way for a while but I also needed him to be there at certain points. Also i’m not a mother so it was quite hard to try and get that relationship right. I don’t see him as pointless, but I wouldn’t, would I?;-) I think he certainly had his role in events and the emotions of the book.

 

 

With this being the first book of yours I’ve read, it’s definitely encouraged me to seek out more of your work, what genre would you say most of your books are?

Oh I write in a wide variety of genres from Horror to fairy tale reworking, but all my stories tend to have a dark mystery at their core. Currently I’m enjoying writing thrillers though.

 

 

What’s your favourite genre to write?

I don’t really know. I just like telling stories and genre is unimportant to me. I do like a puzzle though, so there tends to always be a mystery at the heart of my books.

 

 

Which three books, either your own or other authors, would you recommend to someone who enjoyed reading Behind Her Eyes? 

Of mine I would say 13 Minutes, of others I would say The Chalk Man by C J Tudor or The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd, both out this January.

 

 

With the book having a similar outcome and similar fans to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, is there talks of this one also becoming a film? If not, would you like it to be?

The rights have been sold to Left Bank who are developing it with Netflix as a mini series. I’m expecting an update as to where we are with it in January. These things take a long time though -but Left Bank made The Crown with Netflix so it’s in good hands.

How old were you when you started writing your first book and when it was published?

I think I was about 30 when I started writing my first book and was 32 when it was published. It was a horror novel called The Hidden.

What advice would you give to someone who has a passion for writing or someone who has written stories/books and wouldn’t know where to go next?

I don’t really do writing advice – everyone’s journey is so different. Write a book, send it out, write another one while you’re waiting is probably the best advice. Go to conventions and festivals – meet people. There’s no magic, just hard work!

Thank you so much for your time, I’m definitely off to buy 13 Minutes and The Hidden!! I also cannot wait for the mini series of this book on Netflix. 

I have to say, Sarah is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking with and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
If you’ve read the book, I’m sure you found it interesting hearing what she had to say and hopefully, if you haven’t yet read it, it may encourage you to buy a copy!!

Let me know what you think of the book in the comments section below.
Bye for now