Hi Victoria – thanks so much for taking the time to chat, and for such a great book! I have to ask: what inspired you to take the ‘genius loci’ idea, the Spirits of Place, and apply it to the Cambridge Colleges? Every one is clear as a ‘person’, different yet united.

It started with King’s. As a student I lived in Bodley’s Court for a while and at the risk of sounding as eccentric as one of my characters, to me King’s always “looked” the way I portray him in the book; a wonderful, warm, avuncular type of chap. Even his sandy hair reflects much of the stonework.

In King Street Run (KSR) the College personifications are the distilled essence of academia, characters that represent the very best of each College. So yes, they’re very different in character but united in principles. I played heavily upon the academic histories of the Colleges but the end result was a lot more holistic than that; the architecture, their location, the little stories that make up their quirky traditions and so forth, it all played a part. For example, the character of John has pronounced sideburns because that’s how the Gatehouse of St. John’s College always struck me. John and Trinity have a sort of bickering sibling type of relationship which reflects the real-life friendly rivalry between them.

I’m delighted to hear that you feel that way about Thomas! And yes, his life is largely my own, at least the bumpy start. I didn’t come from the worst background in the world but it wasn’t easy either. Trying to make something of yourself when nothing is expected is harder than it might sound. When I first went to university – which was in Winchester – the greatest difficulty wasn’t the work or being in new surroundings, it was encountering what I perceived as the overwhelming confidence of the middle class. Not everyone of course, and most people were pleasant enough, but I’d never experienced anything of that kind. It was like being hit by a tidal wave. It took a lot of spluttering and splashing about in the water before I realised that their backgrounds equipped them with life jackets.

Being the first person in my family to go to university I had no idea what to expect, no one to offer advice, I was very much alone. I had multiple jobs while studying, none of which paid very much but it kept me afloat. It wasn’t easy but I loved my subject (archaeology, then human evolution) and desperately wanted a life in research, so you battle on against the odds. And I felt very odd indeed.

Very true. Thomas makes the conscious switch from regional Essex to received pronunciation (RP) for the simple, sad reason that he doesn’t want it to taint people’s opinion of his ideas. RP is associated with social class and synonymous with being well educated, possessing authority, being trustworthy and so forth. A quick glance around Parliament is enough to demonstrate that’s nonsense of course, but the UK is so heavily hung up on class that people with regional/working class accents are often judged in ways that those who speak RP are not. The absurdity of it all is reflected in the character of Richard Wilberforce-Owen. The antithesis of Thomas, Richard is well spoken, confident, wealthy, knows how to work the system and has “an intellect as fierce as a cheetah’s roar.” (cheetahs don’t roar.)

Thank you! I’ve received a fair few comments from people saying my writing style reminds them of Douglas Adams and as a big fan of his I take that as a huge compliment. Cambridge has a culture of irreverent humour and if you have a certain disposition I’m sure one absorbs it by osmosis. I even received a Tom Sharpe comparison last week – I don’t feel worthy of such contrasts but just for a bit I’m going to enjoy basking in the thought.