The film rendition of The Theory of Everything has taken the world by storm! And behind it all is the inimitable Jane Hawking. Her story of her marriage to the infamous scientist Stephen Hawking was both heart-rending and poignant (catch our review of her novel in our April issue and stand a chance to win a copy of your own!). Jane chatted to GLAMOUR about all things writing.
GLAMOUR: Describe Travelling to Infinity in 10 words or less.
Jane: The book is an account of the 25 years of my marriage to Stephen Hawking.
GLAMOUR: Travelling to Infinity is a memoir, how difficult is to tap into your memories and reconstruct them?
Jane: It was not difficult at all. I have and had a very strong visual memory of scenes even of early events and situations that I could conjure up quite easily; I also had plenty of photographs and my diaries to consult. The toughest thing about it was that some people doubted the advisability of doing it, a doubt justified when it was first published by the unsympathetic reception it received in the press. Now the reception to essentially the same material is rather different!
GLAMOUR: Who’s been your most important influence when it came to writing this book?
Jane: No one person. It was much more that I was aware that I shouldered a great burden of significant memories that I wanted to unload to enable me to pursue my own life after the divorce. Also if I did not write the memoir someone else would undoubtedly try to do so and would probably invent tales about us – there have already been unauthorised biographies. If anyone were to write the story of our marriage, I would want to write the definitive account myself. Moreover I wanted to bring to public notice the plight of the victims of disability and their families.
GLAMOUR: Did you expect the amazing response to your book?
Jane: No, I did not expect it at all and am finding it gratifying but rather overwhelming. I am doing my best to answer enquiries from the press and from sufferers and their families, but have found promotional tours, where there have been as many as ten interviews per day, quite exhausting.
GLAMOUR: How did Stephen himself feel about this memoir?
Jane: I gave him a copy but I don’t think he bothered to read it.
GLAMOUR: What’s your cure for writer’s block?
Jane: My problem was finding the time to write down everything I wanted to say!
GLAMOUR: What’s the best writing advice you’ve received?
Jane: To write from the heart with conviction is my motto.
GLAMOUR: Who are your favourite writers?
Jane: Charlotte Bronte, Dickens, Jane Austen, Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Benito Perez Galdos, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky… to name but a few.
GLAMOUR: What’s the biggest compliment someone can give you about your writing?
Jane: That it has touched them deeply.
GLAMOUR: What’s your advice to young authors hoping to get published?
Jane: To persevere through thick and thin…
GLAMOUR: What can we expect from you next?
Jane: I have a couple of novels which I hope to finish – and publish – when all this razzmatazz has died down.
Want to know more about Steven and Jane Hawking? Take a look at our April issue for the full review on Travelling to Infinity .
