The Mistress Of Nothing by Kate Pullinger

Cathy Marie Buchanan asks: 'How do you know when your book is finished?' And my book had made them happy because it imagined a gentler fate for Sally.ģ. They never found out what happened to their long-lost great-great-auntie. After the book came out, a descendant of the sister of Sally Naldrett - Ellen, who also lived in Egypt and is a minor character in my novel - wrote to me. Because no one (by no one I mean no historian) knows what became of the maid Sally Naldrett once she was cast out of Lady Duff Gordon's household, I concocted what I thought was a believable fate for a penniless serving class Englishwoman on her own with a child in 19th century Cairo. This is going to sound like boasting but it is my favourite thing: my novel The Mistress of Nothing was based on a true story. Alexi Zentner asks, 'What's your favourite thing a reader has ever said to you?' However, I work with an amazing faculty of writers and I have terrific students. As you can imagine, imposter syndrome features prominently in my CV. So I'm a doctor and a professor and I work for a university in England that is not only a bath but a spa as well. I'm what is euphemistically known as a 'non-standard entrant' to academia - I dropped out of McGill when I was 19 and my first degree was a PhD, which I finished four years ago. I'm lucky enough to possess the fabulous job title of Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University.

Karen Solie asks, 'What is your day (or night) job?'

Read her original story, 'The Trees.'īelow, Kate Pullinger answers eight questions submitted by eight of her fellow writers in the CBC Books Magic 8 Q&A.ġ. A Governor General's Literary Award winner for her 2009 novel The Mistress of Nothing, Kate Pullinger is also a contributor to CBC Books' 'Heroes and Antiheroes' literary series, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Mistress Of Nothing by Kate Pullinger