We are delighted to welcome Sarah Waights to the blog today.
Why
our party leaders’ wives should never have married a politician.
First, may I say what a pleasure it is to be on the
RNA Blog. My debut novel is a graduate of the brilliant NWS and, specifically,
the lovely Catherine Jones who said all the right things at the right times,
including things like “get off your arse” and “just do it, Waights”. Thanks Catherine.
I have always seen party politics, with its monstrous,
egotistical, power-mad inmates as an irresistible opportunity for drama and
comedy. I’m loving the pre-election media fascination with the ‘behind the
scenes’ lives of the party leaders. Their wives are being plonked in kitchens
they have probably never seen before to drink coffee, lean nonchalantly and
convey through facial expression alone that they consider their politician
husbands to be wise, empathic and - last but not least - irresistibly hot.
It’s a tough call. Let’ face it, all of those party
leaders have had their unlovely moments:
Nick Clegg’s wife - whose is obviously much cleverer
than him - had to put up with his boasting that he had had multiple sexual
partners. He couldn’t even be precise about numbers, but was pretty sure it was
‘no more than thirty’. Charming. David Cameron’s young family clearly have
scant respect for him. They probably kick sand in his face on the beach - and
who can blame them? He is master of the off-message pronouncement, proclaiming
once on live radio that “too many tweets make a tw*t”. Quite. As for Ed
Milliband, his wife probably has to pretend watching him eat a bacon sandwich
is enough to make her squirm with pride - and I’m sure squirming comes easily
to the poor woman. I could go on, but sadly Nigel Farage’s verbal indiscretions
are too huge a subject for this post.
The advice my heroine, Emily Pemilly gives other politicians’
wives at the beginning of the novel is different - I hope - to the advice she
would give them at the end. The story is a romance, of course, but it is also
an examination of two very different forms of love:
At the opening Emily is a dutiful wife, devoting her
life to making rising MP Ralph look good and behaving in a (mostly)
irreproachable way under the enduring scrutiny of the world. Emily’s husband is
charming, handsome, urbane, ambitious and successful. He and Emily share lively
repartee, they are raising two children and clocking up a decent few years of
marriage under their belts. On many levels, it works - successful marriages
have been based on less. In contrast, the reader has to judge whether former
lover Matt is truly on Emily’s side. After all, he’s a journalist with a story
to find, he is clearly angry about his and Emily’s past failed relationship and
he is bluntly critical about her life choices. Emily agonises as to which man
is best for her, struggling with the notion of what true love really is, and
having to decide whether she is right to be steadfast or to disrupt her life
and those around her to follow her heart.
Never Marry a Politician is Sarah Waights’ debut
novel. A romcom, e-published by Choc Lit, it was runner up in the Good
Housekeeping Novel Writing Competition 2014, where it was judged ‘a witty comedy’, ‘laugh out loud funny from
the first line’ and ‘one to watch.’
About
Sarah
Sarah Waights wrote her first book when she was five.
Her childhood was split between UK boarding schools and joining her parents
overseas in the school holidays.
After several years in public relations, campaigning,
political lobbying and freelance journalism, she realised her preference for
making things up and switched to writing novels instead.
Sarah takes an anthropological interest in family,
friends and life in her West Sussex village where she lives with her artist
husband, their children and other pets.
Thank you for joining us today, Sarah.
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