Primrose Hill writer Amy McLean has released her latest novel, setting the story in the heart of Hampstead Heath. We Are Lucifer employs the thriller genre to explore protagonist Amber Quigley’s struggles with depression and jealousy. “Like many of my other novels, it’s a study of the human mind in relation to mental health,” McLean explains.
We Are Lucifer is not the first of McLean’s novels to be set in Hampstead, as the area has proven to be a huge influence on her life and work. McLean shares her passion with gratitude: “To wake up every morning in the place that most inspires my writing is a surreal dream.”
She first visited Hampstead in the spring of 2013 when she sought out the grave of inspiring writer and feminist Eva Gore-Booth at the parish church of St-John-at-Hampstead, and confesses that she immediately fell in love with the area. She elaborates: “Initially it was the architecture, the scenery, the trees; visually inspiring, Hampstead is unrivalled. Over time, I learned more about the area, and it quickly became apparent to me that virtually every street oozes with a history of literature and the arts. I could think of nowhere more incredible to live and write than the former haunt of such inspirations as Daphne du Maurier, Lytton Strachey, John Keats and Constance Hill.”
Referring to her decision to set the majority of her works in Hampstead, McLean explains that “Hampstead was always going to be the perfect setting for me in my writing. It harvests its own stories in abundance. It’s rich in literary and cultural history, with such beautiful leafy scenery. It offers solitude and freedom to be at one with life; it is the only place I have ever felt at home.”
Set in the heart of Hampstead Heath, We Are Lucifer offers a contemporary character study into mental health and human behaviour as a response to heartache and rejection. McLean’s fifth novel is published by GJB Publishing and is available from Primrose Hill Books.
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