Yesterday evening Reeta Chakrabarti launched her debut book Finding Belle at York St John University.
Chakrabarti, Chancellor of the university, continued her book tour with a conversation, book signing, and a wine reception.
Interviewed by Anne-Marie Evans, Head of the school of Humanities at YSJ, Chakrabarti spoke on the inspiration behind her novel, common themes throughout, and her writing process.
Prior to the event Reeta Chakrabarti spoke to The Yorkie about the origin of her first novel, her love for Jane Eyre, and balancing being a journalist and an author: “Finding Belle is a sort of response to Jane Eyre. It’s a sort of 21st century response to a 19th century novel.”
From being a bookworm all her life, she said: “I always did want to write a book, in that secret little ambition type of way. But then lockdown happened in 2020 and I thought it’s now or never.”
Reeta Chakrabarti is a household name as a broadcast journalist at the BBC, frequently seen anchoring the news. She said: ” [Journalism] it’s probably helped me in terms of narrative, because what we do in the newsroom is to narrate stories. But of course, the big difference is that they’re factual and my novel is fiction. At times, I would say my journalism was almost a hindrance stylistically.”
She assured us that publishing a book wasn’t a sign of her stepping away from journalism: “I’m doing both. I’m still very committed to journalism and the news. I love doing the news.”
As a non-stop journalist, we asked her how she finds the time to write: “It became a labour of love, emphasis on the labour as well as love, there have been times when I’m taking the tube into work and I’ll think ‘Oh, that’s what he’d say.’ So I have to make a quick note and occasionally between the 6 and 10 o’clock news, I think, ‘Oh, yes, that’s what should happen.’ Then I make a little quick note. It’s sort of going on in the back of my head, but not at the detriment of the other job.”
And will there be a second book? “There is a book two. It’s not linked to book one at all. It’s about an artist. I’m not going to say anything more about it because it’s a work in progress, and that’s all.”
By Poppy Marshall and Molly Tingle
