I adored the book and reviewed it here on Random Things a couple of weeks ago, please do go and take a look at my full review, here's a little taster:
" The thing that makes Where Love Lies particularly special and quite unique is that despite the obviously emotional, romantic theme to this novel, there is a twist to the story that will make the reader contemplate how love really works. Can our heart really rule our head? How can a particular smell touch our heart, or does it? Julie Cohen has explored the workings of our brain in fine detail, yet the story is not bogged down by this at all, in fact it actually makes the reader look at the characters in a different way. "
I was so excited to get an invitation to the book launch party for Where Love Lies. I met up with my friend and fellow blogger Anne who blogs at Being Anne at Kings Cross. After coffee and cake at a gorgeous street cafe in Notting Hill we went to the party at Lutyens & Rubinstein book shop. We had the most fabulous of evenings, we met so many favourite authors, both of us were a little overwhelmed by it all, but were made to feel so welcome. Julie Cohen sprayed us with some absolutely beautiful perfume - all connected to the story of Where Love Lies - you really have to read it to find out! It was a beautiful warm evening, with plenty of wine and good humour. Thanks so much to Tess from Transworld who organised the event and invited us along.
I'm delighted to welcome Julie Cohen to Random Things Through My Letterbox today. Julie has kindly agreed to answer some questions for me - I hope you enjoy this little Q&A session.
What was your favourite childhood book?
Watership Down by Richard Adams. I read it when I was about ten and it was the most earth-shattering story I'd ever read. Here were rabbits who were like people—not cuddly and fluffy, or sweet little scamps like Peter Rabbit, but rabbits with flaws and problems, with their own mythology and language, who could face death and be heroes. It opened up a whole new world to me, not only of rabbits, but of reading and storytelling. I live about half an hour from the real Watership Down now and sometimes I go and sit under Bigwig's tree and think about Hazel and Fiver and Bigwig.
Name one book that made you laugh?
I just finished reading Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe and the dialogue in that book made me laugh a lot.
Name one book that made you cry?
The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman. It's an incredibly touching story about a mother with early onset Alzheimer's, and how it effects everyone she loves, most particularly her daughters. With a subject like that, it could be a depressing book, but really it's a celebration of love and memories. That said, I needed quite a few tissues when I read it...
Which fictional character would you like to meet?
I don't have to think about this at all: it would be Sherlock Holmes. I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan since I was eleven and those stories, which I have read over and over every year since then, literally changed my life. My love of the Sherlock Holmes stories made me study English Literature, and Victorian literature in particular. I moved to England because of Sherlock Holmes. I still inwardly jump up and down every time I go through Baker Street station on the Bakerloo line. I've belonged to the Baker Street Irregulars and the Sherlock Holmes Society and I am such a Sherlock Holmes geek that I draw a regular cartoon feature for the Sherlock Holmes Journal. If I met Sherlock Holmes, I wouldn't need to see him solve any cases or perform incredible acts of deduction; I would just shake his hand and tell him thank you.
Which book would you give to your best friend as a present?
The book I probably give most as a present is The Princess Bride by William Goldman. It is just…perfect. Giants, sword fights, royalty, revenge, scheming Venetians, Rodents Of Unusual Size, and true love. It's also a book about reading, writing, and storytelling. It makes everyone happy, and sometimes what you want most out of a book is for it to make you happy.
A huge thanks to Julie for sparing the time to answer my questions, and to Tess from Transworld for organising the launch party, and the blog tour.
Julie Cohen grew up in Maine and studied English at Brown University and Cambridge University. She moved to the UK to research fairies in Victorian children's literature at the University of Reading and this was followed by a career teaching English at secondary level. She now writes full time and is a popular speaker and teacher of creative writing.For more information about the author and her work, check out her website www.julie-cohen.com
She has an author page on Facebook and is on Twitter @julie_cohen
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