1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE FOUR
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
The fatal price of loyalty and love at an exclusive English boarding school.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I amalgamated several places I’ve spent time in to create the idyllic Devon valley that’s home to a fictional boarding school, High Realms.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Rose is intelligent, empathetic, and naive.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Things can always get better. They can also get worse.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Both, but it’s good to see the whole as soon as reasonably possible.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Camembert.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
It’s flat and features things like pillows and a duvet.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Ooh, there are so many that choosing just one is very difficult. I very much admire Maggie O’Farrell.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Many books have had a profound effect on me, from The Golden Notebook to Wuthering Heights to Outlander.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was at my friend Monica’s flat, meeting her new Husky puppy, beautiful Velma. My agent, the indomitable Cathryn Summerhayes, texted me asking me if I was free to talk. She calmly gave me the news that has changed my life. I’ve got a photo somewhere of Velma looking completely indifferent – which is understandable, I suppose.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Thrillers.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Titanic. It’s a great work of art.
15--What is your favorite season?
Early autumn
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Quietly.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Bad Sisters, on Apple TV.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
French.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
See family and friends, cycle, read, cuddle my cats, cook, walk in beautiful places.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Something equally twisty and suspenseful, but much sillier than The Four.
An international bestseller!
One secret could destroy them all. The brand new dark academia debut for 2024 and a gripping tale of revenge, guilt, privilege, and loyalty, perfect for fans of The Secret History and If We Were Villains
“An intensely gripping, thrilling and darkly beautiful debut. I was hooked.” —Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author
We were always The Four. From our very first day at High Realms.
The four scholarship pupils. Outsiders in a world of power and privilege. And, according to everyone else, we were dangerous.
It would have made our lives a lot easier if Marta had simply pushed our prefect Genevieve out of our bedroom window that day. Certainly, it would have been tragic. She would have died instantly.
But Marta didn’t push her then, or – if you choose to believe me – at any other time. If she had, all of what we went through would not have happened.
I’ve told this story as clearly as I could – as rationally as I’ve been able, in the circumstances, to achieve. I don’t regret what we did. And I would do it all again.
Suspense Gothic | Young Adult | Coming of Age [William Morrow Paperbacks, On Sale: August 20, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063394384 / eISBN: 9780063394391]
Ellie Keel is an award-winning producer and campaigner. She is the Founder Director of The Women’s Prize for Playwriting, a literary prize and campaign for gender equality among writers for the stage in the UK and Ireland. In 2022 she was the youngest producer ever to be shortlisted for Producer of the Year in The Stage Awards. She is based in London.
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