Local Author Nominated For The People's Book Prize

Comedy in clash between a controlling mother and her future daughter in law

The romantic comedy In-Laws and Outlaws has been nominated for The People’s Book Prize – the only major book prize in which the winners are determined entirely by the public vote. The book is the debut novel of Chiswick author Kate Fulford.

The book tells the story of Eve, an unconventional heroine, with a colourful past, whose best friend describes her as a ‘borderline psychopath’. Nonetheless, Eve’s heart is in the right place. Having recently fallen in love with Gideon everything seems, at last, to be working out rather well for Eve. But then Gideon introduces her to his mother, Marjorie. Marjorie knows what's best for her son, and it's definitely not Eve.

Kate has lived in Chiswick since 1994 and describes it as 'the perfect place.'

“Having lived with the book in my head for so long, to know that people are reading it at all is astonishing - to be shortlisted for The People’s Book Prize is beyond unreal. The Prize is a wonderful way for readers to find books that may otherwise go unnoticed, so I would urge people to take this opportunity to read as many of the shortlisted books as possible, I will be! ”

She worked in marketing and software for several years before deciding to give writing a try. It was while attending an Arvon creative writing class in Devon that she developed confidence in her work, when the tutor praised her style. However, it still took several rejections to finally have the book accepted.

She describes her heroine as "quirky and maybe a little more unscrupulous than most people." Kate says that her MSc in Psychology helps her to in writing about personality and behaviour. Her own mother-in-law lives in Australia, but she would not like to say it is in any way based on personal experience.

Chiswick is also featured strongly in her novel, which actually starts off on the first page with a mention of Alfie, the fruit and veg stallholder on Chiswick High Road. There are also references to Chiswick House, to Sheen, and to Richmond Park. "People will recognise some of the places, and its quite grounded in west London."

The book cover also has an interesting story. When Kate was reading Wolf Hall some years ago she noticed tha the cover illustrator was Andy Bridge. "I remembered I had gone to school with an Andy Bridge who was a friend at the time but over the years we lost touch. I tracked him down and realised it was the same person, and I said to him, ' if I ever get a book published will you design the cover and he said 'Yes'."

Andy, who has an international reputation for his cover designs ( Life of Pi, Alexander McCall Smith), has proved the eyecatchingly lovely cover which can be seen above.

Kate can be seen on the author's panel during Chiswick Book Festival, in September to be held at Waterstones. She is currently working on her next book,, where she says the subject matter is very different.

Frederick Forsyth is the patron of the People's Book Prize and the late Beryl Bainbridge was a founder. The mission is to promote new and undiscovered literary works. The public can vote until October 15. The prizes will be distributed at a black-tie awards ceremony at Stationers' Hall in London 8 May 2019.

June 11, 2018