Life in the country isn’t going as Issy Smugge planned it. However, the woman Gorgeous Home magazine once called ‘Britain’s Most Relatable Mum Designer’ is nothing if not resilient!
With an unexpected baby on the way, a good-for-nothing husband and a mother who never seemed to care but now needs caring for, her hands are full. Her venal agent and creative socials guru keep work fizzing, but how will she cope with the mysterious village snitch and poisonous gossip columnist Lavinia Harcourt?
Discovering others’ problems can be far worse than her own, she confronts bizarre church sub-culture and braces herself to use the NHS, rethinking all she thought she wanted. Could true happiness be just a few hashtags away?
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Guest Post
Influencers: The Carefully Curated World of Isabella M Smugge
Eighteen months ago, as I sat down at my laptop, steaming mug of tea made by husband at my elbow, I do wonder why I decided to make my heroine a lifestyle blogger and Instamum. Back then, I knew virtually nothing about either, and yet as snobbish, deluded Isabella M Smugge and her world flowed from my fingertips, that was the profession I chose.
Once the Diary of Isabella M Smugge was published and people were asking me questions about it, one of the most popular was, “How did you research Issy’s world?” Simple. Every Saturday, I’d walk into our local village, purchase two bacon rolls and decaf cappuccinos from the café, buy the Guardian and the Times with their glossy supplements and walk back. Delightful snippets of inspiration lurked within their enticing pages. Whether it was about fashion (tea dresses and colourful spring flats), food (Asian slaw and Vietnamese lime leaf chicken) or holiday destinations (Croatia and Zakynthos), reading these fascinating if slightly pretentious articles was grist to my mill.
Looking back on it, I should probably have followed an Instamum or two, but it’s only in the last few weeks that I have. Creating Isabella with her Polish cleaner, Latvian au pair and huge, devoted following was pure fun, the kind of thing that I had only dreamed of as a freelance writer. Although her money and influence comes from posting carefully curated content across all the social media platforms, writing a hugely successful series of self-help books (Issy Smugge Says) and making frequent appearances on television and radio, my heroine’s story was really all about a sad little girl who yearned to be loved.
It’s been nearly eighteen months now since I got the message from Tony Collins, now my agent, telling me he thought there was a novel in my two-dimensional joke character written for a blog, and would I like to write a couple of sample chapters. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think that I would have created my own tribe of Smugge-ers (and believe me, they’re out there), nor started to demonstrate Isabella-like qualities myself. Before I started writing her, I loathed hashtags with a passion and hardly ever posted anything on Twitter and Instagram. Now, I find myself stopping short on walks or shopping trips to take pictures which might increase my own following or add value to my socials.
“You’re turning into Isabella!” my daughter said crossly the other day, as I came to a halt to start snapping pictures of a spectacular Suffolk sunset. “Yes, but without the money, the designer wardrobe and the staff,” I pointed out, angling my phone upwards to incorporate the silhouette of a majestic oak tree.
When the first novel came out in January this year, I spent around twelve hours every day hunched over my laptop replying to messages and notifications. It was wonderful, thrilling and absolutely exhausting. “I don’t know how she does it!” I complained to my husband as he delivered a small glass of restorative sherry. “I know she’s got staff, but how does she keep up?”
Watching an excellent new series on BBC1 the other night (The Outlaws, very good), I latched on to one of the characters, an aristocratic influencer and celebutante named Lady Gabby. Just like Isabella, she’s glamorous, confident and has vast numbers of devoted followers. Her father is an Earl and on the surface, she’s got everything a woman could possibly want. However, in a number of poignant scenes, we see her sad, alone and lashing out angrily against the person she loves. Another sad little girl who craves affection and affirmation.
My life experience as a very ordinary, non-aristocratic person hasn’t given me the opportunity to meet people like Issy Smugge and Lady Gabby. But working for a local estate agent which allows me to peek into the houses of those who can afford to install bespoke hand-painted kitchens and cover their floors with hand-cut Egyptian marble has given me an insight into their lifestyles.
Armed with this knowledge, I brought out the sequel, the Trials of Isabella M Smugge in October. The Smugge-ers were desperate to know if a major character lived or died (no spoilers), how the Smugge marriage was going and how poor Issy was going to cope as a single parent with only a housekeeper, gardener, agent, social media guru and manicurist to support her. Reviews have been excellent and Isabella’s fans are asking for more.
It looks as though I’ll be researching on-trend shades for bedroom renovations (warm blue with plenty of texture and pattern, since you ask) for quite a while longer.
Thank you, Ruth Leigh and Rhoda Hardie PR
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About the Author
Ruth Leigh is a freelance writer and novelist, and is married with three children, one husband and assorted livestock. She blogs at Big Words and Made Up Stories and for More Than Writers and Authors Electric, and is a recovering overachiever. She lives in Suffolk.
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Author Links
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: ruthleighwrites
http://www.ruthleighwrites.co.uk
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Book Link
B for Bookreview 