Books / Sophie Holland
Bristol author Sophie Holland launches debut novel: ‘Peachy Wonderful’
Working for the last 15 years as a speech and language therapist based at St Michael’s Hospital, Sophie Holland is a Bristol writer with a longstanding passion for nature, environmental and community action, and creative youth work – largely through Bristol’s Portal Youth Theatre, which she has co-directed since 2014.
Her inspirations come from myriad sources, although the complexities of communication – especially in families – is one theme that is deeply embedded within her award-nominated debut novel, Peachy Wonderful.
Set in a fictional South West town – and with one scene set at Bristol Old Vic – the story follows three generations of the Starling family who are reunited for a ruby wedding celebration, with explosive results.
is needed now More than ever
Playing with timelines along the way, the novel unearths long-held family secrets, confronting the nuances of emotional truth as it comes up against recorded history.
Bristol24/7 caught up with Holland to find out more about the book, and the challenges and excitements of being an emerging writer of fiction.
Book cover for Peachy Wonderful – photo: Archetype Books
Now that Peachy Wonderful is out and you can reflect on it, how does it feel to be a debut novelist?
“It feels both peachy and wonderful! Satisfying and exciting. After four years of this family and this story existing in my head, now readers are meeting them and responding in their various ways. The feedback is a confidence boost and also strangely like gossiping about a family everyone knows and has an opinion on. Sometimes I feel defensive and protective, but in the same way as bringing up children, I have to let the characters go!”
Which are the elements of the novel that you are most excited about people discovering?
“It’s the unique and personal responses that are most exciting. Several readers have talked to me about identifying with the feeling of being cast in a role as a child and being unable to shed this within the family dynamic. It was precisely this I set out to explore in the story.
“Another reader, a middle-aged father, related to the dilemmas of Ted, desperate to be a hero for his family, and unable to reach his obstreperous teenage daughter. He said ‘It made me think about my own life’. As a writer, you can’t ask for more.”
Can you introduce us to your principal characters, and the inspiration behind them?
“It’s an ensemble piece – the kind I like to read. The focus is on Ted and Bea, father and daughter. Ted’s a Gloucestershire builder, orphaned at an early age, with a deep sense of family and responsibility. From her birth, his daughter Bea is unfathomable, and this accentuates his desire for heroism. Bea is a ball of fire and fury, tempestuous and outspoken, understood only by Granny Dil, who leaves her too soon and bereft. Father and daughter harbour very different versions of the past – of one event in particular – and their schism threatens the whole family.
“All the characters are entirely my inventions, and therefore they are made from myself and everyone I’ve ever met and read about. I often have a physical person, or two, in mind for how each character looks and moves. But after that their personalities and situations are fictional.”
Sophie Holland in a bookshop with her debut novel
How much support have you had from the Bristol indie bookshop scene?
“I’ve had fantastic, much-needed advice from Joe at Gloucester Road Books (my local) about marketing and approaching bookshops. Consequently, Peachy Wonderful is on the shelves in four of our wonderful indie Bristol bookshops! It’s where I tell everyone to get their copies – we need to support them in order to keep them: such an asset to our city.”
How difficult and complex has the journey to getting your first book published proved? What challenges have you faced along the way?
“It’s been long and winding.. and emotional! I have been writing for years, completed an MA at Oxford Brookes in 2017, found success with short story competitions and had several of my short stories published. Now my novel is out in the world, I can say writing the thing was the easy part!
“After being shortlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award in Feb 2024 and over 30 submissions, I was still unable to get an agent. I researched independent publishers (many more submissions), and finally lucked out with Archetype Books, based in Frome. It is a labour of love and I’m very happy to have stuck with it. Next time however, I’ll be better equipped.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
“A short story set in Watchet on the Jurassic coast. About the power of nature, growing up in a small town, The Ancient Mariner, grief, and how the place you’re from places you.
“In July, with my creative conspirator, Lizzie Minnion (film editor, theatre director, senior lecturer), we’re making our second One Take Project, funded by the University of Gloucester: One film in one take in one week, devised from scratch, with a Ukrainian youth group in Gloucester; telling their stories.
“My second novel is in note form and in my head. It may hit the shelves in, let’s say, three years’ time.”
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Peachy Wonderful: by Sophie Holland is out now at a range of Bristol independent bookshops, published by Archetype Books. For more information, visit www.sophieholland.org or follow @sophiehollandwriter.
All photos: Sophie Holland
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