A Long Thoughtful Walk
Amanda's personal epiphany walking the Camino Francés
I didn’t set off to walk the Camino Francés across Spain in search of anything in particular. An epiphany would be nice but not something you can bank on. In recent years, with books and movies celebrating this pilgrimage, it has become something of a cliché. But that doesn’t diminish the powerful effect this very personal journey has on so many people.
It changed everything for me.
My first novel ‘The Olive Sisters’ was published by Penguin in 2005. I’d spent five years working on it. The time invested paid off and it was accepted straight away. My debut was a dream come true (a dream I’d had since I was a child) with wonderful reviews, reprints and bestseller status. But, despite high hopes, my second novel, ‘Two for the Road’ had the opposite trajectory. I had the humbling experience of dropping into a book shop to sign copies only to find them all kicked to the corner, headed for pulping.
In the meantime, I’d become a single parent and earning a living had to take priority over writing in those next few years. There had also been a film option taken out on ‘The Olive Sisters’ by a US producer and I was given the opportunity to write the screenplay.
I’ve never really hankered after a ‘career’ (even the word sounds boring and self-interested to me) and have had all sorts of jobs over the years. Some were fun and others stressful, but I always had the freedom to move on. Writing and developing my skills in different genres was my true interest and paid work was secondary to that, so the chance to work on a screenplay adaptation was irresistible.
The film project started well enough. An early draft of my adaption achieved quarterfinal listing in the American Screenwriter’s Association 12th International Screenplay Competition. Amazing actors and a highly regarded director became attached to the project. But as the years ticked over, the project was going around in circles with the promised finance never manifesting.
By the time I set off on the Camino in 2014, my children were independent, and I was free, but also a little lost. I wasn’t on a quest exactly, just hoping for some time and space, and a new challenge.
Over the forty days, I walked with people I met along the way, other days I walked alone – which I also loved. I had a lot of time to think about where I was going in a broader sense.
I’d experienced a false dawn with the first novel and bombed with the second. The film project had been dragging on for years and was no closer to being made. Where to next?
As I walked, I began to think about a new novel and specific elements that might appeal to readers of my first novel. I’ve discovered over the years that many things that interest me (a lot of odd things) do not interest other people – so this time I placed myself firmly in the shoes of those readers. I was also looking for a premise within my remit that I could do a good job on.
I loved the idea of writing something historical, mid-twentieth century being the period I’m most interested in. The 1950s was a time of post-war renewal of creativity and the world coming back to life. Over the years, I’d read all the significant novelists of the 20th century, so felt confident that I had a good insight into the era.
I wanted to set my story in a desirable location and settled on Côte d’Azur in the South of France. This in turn led me to a fascinating, evocative subject that I was confident readers would enjoy – the world of the French perfumer.
By the time I arrived in Santiago de Compostela, I was ready to start this new project: a mystery set in the world of perfume on the French Riviera, told in first person as if written in the period.
It was important to me that this novel be fun to research and write so that, even if it ended up pulped, I would have enjoyed the experience.
As soon as I got home, I started to work on it. Once the draft was well underway, I organised to rent a cheap (read ‘bleak’) flat for a month in Antibes, in the South of France, in February 2015. By good fortune, dear friends of mine had moved to nearby Juan-les-Pins. What could have been a very lonely research trip in midwinter became a joyous one, fuelled by French rosé and wonderful discussions over many dinners that we still reminisce about.
My experience in France reignited my boundless enthusiasm for research. I loved walking around and observing potential locations, taking a perfume workshop in Grasse and visiting museums. Having decided on 1956 as the timeframe, I spent months reading books about the wartime history of France and its aftermath, complex and interesting.
By the time ‘The French Perfumer’ was released, I had also carried through on another decision – not to renew the film option. Despite the thousands of hours invested in that project, it was time for all involved to move on to something else.
I look back on developing ‘The French Perfumer’ as a wonderful time in my life, one of finding my passion again which, in turn, led to me to continue to produce novels at regular intervals. The leap of faith I took back then emboldened me to take another leap and change genres. This led to the creation of The Tea Ladies series – which has been the highlight of my twenty years as an author.
Inspiration can be elusive, and when your confidence is crushed (or worse, pulped) it’s not a simple task to just continue on as usual. Sometimes there needs to be an intervention (or perhaps an epiphany) and a new direction.
Walking the Camino, I experienced the slowing of time while immersed in the beautiful solitude of the Spanish countryside. The time to slough off the past, good and bad, and create some space for new ideas to blossom. I’ll be forever grateful for the clarity I found there which drew me back to the place I belong – writing stories.
Amanda Hampson grew up in rural New Zealand. She spent her early twenties travelling and living in London. Settling in Sydney in 1979, she now lives in Melbourne. Amanda has been writing professionally for more than 30 years and is the award-winning author of nine novels: The Olive Sisters, Two for the Road, The French Perfumer, The Yellow Villa, Sixty Summers, Lovebirds, The Tea Ladies, The Cryptic Clue and her forthcoming release The Deadly Dispute.
A runaway bestseller, The Tea Ladies won the 2024 Danger Awards for Best Crime Fiction and was Shortlisted for 2024 Davitt Awards - Best Adult Crime & 2024 Ned Kelly Awards - Best Fiction.
You can find Amanda at https://www.amandahampson.com/, https://www.instagram.com/amandahampsonauthor/, https://www.facebook.com/amanda.hampson