Midnight Pool

I am thrilled to bring you a beautiful Q&A thanks to Julia Green. Her latest novel Ettie and the Midnight Pool is the topic, her latest mesmerizing story. If it is one you haven't yet read there are no spoilers here, Julia shares the inspiration behind the book and it is one I urge you to read. It is enchantingly timeless...

This is a beautiful, moving story. What made you decide to set it in the Lake District – is it the sheer wonder of the variety of nature there or were there other motivations? 

This story began when I was staying in the Lake District - walking, swimming in tarns and exploring caves and tunnels from when there was a thriving slate mining industry.  It seemed the perfect setting for a story.  Swimming in a lake as still as a mirror, the sky and hills reflected in the water, it seemed as if there was another world below, and I started thinking about a possible story.  It was soon after the pandemic, when many people felt isolated and cut off… and I imagined a girl living in this remote place with her grandmother.  I began scribbling ideas in my notebook. The real physical place was crucial to the whole story. The landscape came first, the story was inspired by being in the real place. Fletcher’s wood is a real wood. High Fell House is based on a real house. But it’s a story, so I have fictionalized this real landscape and made it my own.

Ettie’s story begins with a story, told to her by her grandma. How important were stories for you when you were growing up? Were you a storyteller, a reader from a young age?

Our house was full of books. I was lucky to have parents who loved books and stories, and who read to me and my sisters at bedtime. We went to the library to choose books every week. A special treat was to go to the bookshop in Leatherhead and buy books, and every summer holiday, our father bought us new books and we read them together. So yes, stories were always important to me. I learned to read early, and I loved listening to stories too – on the radio, and at primary school - the teacher read to us every afternoon before we went home.  I started writing stories at a very young age.

Ettie has a natural curiosity, loves to explore, we find ourselves exploring with her. Are you an explorer and do you prefer to explore alone or with company?

As a child, I had a lot of freedom to walk and explore the woods and fields near our village. I’d usually be with one of my sisters or with a friend. I still love walking and exploring, by myself or with others. I am much braver when I’m with someone else!

Until the fateful day that Ettie finds Cora she has been happy with her rural and solitary life, why did you want her to discover that she wants more, what is the message to the reader?

I think it’s an inevitable and necessary part of growing up. To explore who you are, to take risks, to challenge and push boundaries, to want friends.  I don’t think about my books having a ‘message’; I want readers to immerse themselves in my story and explore alongside Ettie - and think about themselves and their own lives, too.

Ettie has a big adventure ahead of her in this story and she does take a few risks which are potentially dangerous. How do you ensure you write in a way that doesn’t encourage children to follow in her footsteps? 

I trust that readers know the difference between a story and ‘real life’ – that you can do things and go to places in a story which you would not do for real. That’s one of the joys of reading – we can go on vicarious adventures and stay safe! My story makes abundantly clear the risks that Ettie takes, and the extreme danger. At one point, Ettie talks to Cora about the need to get warm quickly after a cold swim (I have learned about this from my own cold swims in the North Sea), and she knows the difference between swimming in the safe tarn and the deep, dangerous quarry pool.

When you have been out exploring, anywhere, what has been your most memorable discovery and would you like to go back to it or do you keep it in your memory, your heart?

That’s an interesting question. My most memorable ‘discoveries’ have been things like beautiful beaches – one in Sardinia, which we named ‘Paradise beach’, which we came across by accident, with stunning turquoise sea and silver sand, or beautiful remote beaches in the Outer Hebrides. I have been back to some of them, but not the beach in Sardinia. I’m not sure I could find it again!

The story is lyrical, it has a beautiful and gentle ebb and flow which also makes it quite magical. Can you share any tips on how you honed your skills in writing to create this effect?

My writing style is the result of a long process of reading and writing over many years! I read poetry as well as fiction and non-fiction. It’s probably influenced by all the stories I loved as a child which were beautifully written – Philippa Pearce’s Tom’s Midnight Garden, Lucy Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe, the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Alison Uttley, Mary Norton – so many! When I write, I pay attention to language and rhythm in sentences and paragraphs. I ‘listen’ to the beat of a line, I edit extensively.

There is an undercurrent of secrecy to the story. Children however are very perceptive and Ettie begins to understand what is being unsaid. How challenging is it to write knowing you are hiding facts from the reader and wanting them to form their own ideas?

Yes, Ettie knows or suspects that Grandma is hiding things from her – that’s clear right from the beginning of the story. So the reader knows this too, and is alert for the clues that not everything is as it seems. At an early stage of writing, there are lots of things which I don’t yet know either; the writing process is a process of discovery. Then I have to decide what to hold back, what to save for later, how much to say. A lot of the process of writing a story is about raising questions in the reader’s mind and delaying the answers. I make many changes and write many drafts. It’s an enjoyable process.  I want to leave space for the reader, so not everything is explained.

To your readers, who like Ettie, have a desire to explore the world near and far, what would you say?

Be brave and bold! It’s a good thing, to want to explore the world. Be mindful of risk and danger and be thoughtful about how your actions impact other people and our beautiful planet, but there is so much to see and explore, near and far. Remember you have one precious life. Use it well!

And finally, once they have read your books what recommendations would you give to your readers and what are you currently reading?

I recommend Katya Balen’s novels, and Emma Carroll’s – I haven’t read it yet but her new book about Houdini sounds great. Nicola Davies’ ambitious, challenging novels The Song That Sings Us, and Skrimsli. David Almond’s Puppet is wonderful. I really enjoyed Clare Furniss’s new book The Things We Leave Behind.

I’m currently reading a fascinating non-fiction book, The Garden Against Time, by Olivia Laing.

Thank you for the great questions – I really enjoyed thinking about my answers! Best wishes, Julia

Our thanks to Julia and her publicity team for making this possible and helping us bring this beautiful book and charming Q&A to you all. If you would like to read Ettie's Midnight Pool or any of Julia's other books you can find them, and much more on her website