An Interview with Nilesha Chauvet

Tell us your story – when and how did you start writing fiction?

I sat down, and I wrote.

First, a short story, aged 12. It was about a young girl who spies on her neighbour from her bedroom window, and who develops an obsession with him. It was shockingly bad, and when I sent it off to a magazine, it was duly returned with a rejection slip. We don’t publish these sorts of stories, it said. My father opened the envelope and read the rejection as well as my dark story before I could stop him. He simply handed it back to me in silence. I was mortified, but looking back, it was probably a defining moment.

After that, I wrote poetry in my teens and began longer form prose in my early twenties. I was on a mad search to find ‘my thing’, namely, the stories that were uniquely me and that only I could write.

I wrote my first full length novel at 23, But only after getting married, having children, and establishing my career, did I knuckle down to learn my craft. I wrote several novels in quick succession, HER TWO LIVES being one of them. I guess I had something worth saying by then.

HER TWO LIVES (formally called The Disappearance of Sir, in first draft form) won a London Writers Award in 2021 and caught the attention of Nelle Andrew, my agent. The rest, as they say, is history.

What’s the one line or paragraph you’re most proud of in your shortlisted book?

It’s the killer paragraph I often read at events. It comes at the end of Chapter 1, after Rita Marsh organises a sting to catch a predator, and after he’s been arrested:

The low hum of the engine is soothing.

A stale taste in my mouth signals morning.

I’d love to say my job is done, but the truth is, it’s only the beginning.

I bite my lip to stay awake.

I tell myself again and again: I’ll get them in the end, I always do.

I’ll hunt them down, one by one. I’ll make sure they’re off our roads for good.

I know who they are, I know where they live.

But they will never really know me.

My name is Rita Marsh …

And I am unstoppable.

Let’s say you’re going rogue: which crime fiction villain would you most enjoy being (just for research, of course)?

A hero villain. Lisbeth Salander. (Minus the trauma).

Which writers have influenced your own writing the most?

Most of them are literary writers. I adore Hanif Kureishi, John Fowles, Deborah Levy, Jean Hanff Korelitz.

You’re cast in a gritty crime drama. Are you the detective, suspect or the wildcard witness?

I’d be the character that combines all three.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

I have yet to read anything that tops NOTES ON AN EXECUTION by Danya Kukafka.

What inspired you to take the leap and write your first novel — was there a moment that sparked it?

I didn’t think too much about it. I was mainly curious to see whether I could get to the end.

What’s been the biggest surprise (or challenge) about publishing your debut book?

The discovery that life does not change. And yet, nothing is ever the same again, either.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone writing their first crime novel, what would it be?

Just do it. Don’t overthink it. But probably best not to give up your day job.