Her friends thought India Knight was mad moving to the country. Life as a national newspaper columnist, writer and novelist seemed exotic, metropolitan and glamorous, so why would India Knight retreat to a farmhouse in rural Suffolk?
“Everybody said ‘wait until the winter’,” she says, recalling how people assumed she’d soon be rushing back to the city. “Of course January and February last about two years each, but, apart from the cold and the price of oil, I love how you batten down the hatches and just eat your eggs.”
Eight years after the momentous move, India says she is firmly entrenched in rural life. The vibrant green woodwork may clash with the Suffolk pink walls of her farmhouse, the barn is full of beauty products for her to review, and there are pet pygmy goats in a pen in the garden, but she also has chickens laying abundantly, sheep lambing in the paddock and she grows her own vegetables in the garden.
“I have three dogs and it gets very muddy but with wellies and big, unattractive fleeces, it’s fine. My friends here are all covered in mud and dog hair as well, and we’re all moaning about how cold it is. It’s quite unifying. And it’s so much more comfortable to make less of an effort.”
Even so, she’s still writing her weekly beauty column for the Sunday Times, championing products for the older woman, celebrating high street brands as well as designer names, and “being on the side of the consumer”. She also hopes to debunk myths in a new food column for the paper, immediately setting out her stall by explaining how she lives in Suffolk.
“I wanted to mention it because I know that readers are irritated by all things being London-centric. I wanted to say that I am pretty remote and get a lot of my veg from honesty stores. I’m coming at it from a really, really enthusiastic place with amazing local resources, but all of which require effort to access.”
She jokes that going anywhere in Suffolk takes 40 minutes, but she’s prepared to make that journey for Wakelyns bread, meat from John Hutton in Earl Soham, fish from the sheds at Blackshore in Southwold or Aldeburgh, and cheese from Leo’s Deli in Framlingham.
The column may mention her favourite restaurants, or places she wants to try – the Greyhound at Pettistree had a name check in the first article – but this is about home cooking. India will be writing about her love of food, and sharing what she calls “impressionistic” recipes.
There will be tips on livening up the leftovers, delighting in some comfort food or making a good salad dressing, and it will be “conversational, chatty and friendly”, she says, because food is so much more than ingredients and technique.
“It’s about the way you want to live, what makes you feel cosy and safe, what you might aspire to,” she says, of our obsession with cookbooks and TV baking programmes.
“You’ve watched the six o’clock news and it’s back-to-back misery. But now here’s Mary Berry and she’s going to make potato gratin and that can make you feel better, even if you never make it yourself.
“Food is a way of showing love to your family or friends and it’s also a moment of imposing order while chaos swirls around you. The 20 minutes it takes to eat your dinner, you’re in a zone away from the complications of the world.”
Reading India’s articles and books also proves a tonic to her many fans. She’s particularly proud of her latest novel which reimagines the world of The Pursuit of Love, a modern classic by Nancy Mitford, written in 1945.
“I’m really happy with it. I wanted it to be a charming, light romantic comedy just like the original, but with ‘bite’. It took me nine million years to write,” she admits, with typical exuberance. “I was asked to write it by Nancy Mitford’s estate, so I was hugely flattered and delighted to be asked, and was running around really pleased with myself. But when I actually sat down to write it, I thought, what am I doing? It’s the perfect novel. A novel I’ve loved since I was 13. Who do I think I am?”
Then Covid happened and she found she was supposed to be writing a story that “feels like a glass of Champagne when the world was collapsing around me”. What’s more, a lavish and popular television adaptation of the story was released.
Despite everything seeming to stack against her creatively, India eventually found the answer – to trust her own memories and love of the book. She closed her dog-eared copy of the original, and let her own story flow. “It’s an interesting process to absorb somebody else but remain yourself,” she says. It’s proved a great success and she's looking forward to chatting about it - and women’s comedy writing in general - with her good friend and fellow author, Nina Stibbe, at the Aldeburgh Literary Festival this month.
“I’m a huge fan of Nina,” she says India, recalling how she first discovered her writing through her memoir of working as a nanny, Love, Nina. “I think comic writing is difficult and the women who do it well are few and far between.”
We’re all in need of a good laugh these days, so why are funny books so rare? “Humour is incredibly subjective. I like a straight gag, but I prefer a joke that has something behind it. Nina and I both write about complicated, slightly-damaged-round-the-edges people and finding humour in that. We’re both interested in humour as the lubricant to difficult situations. When everything’s terrible, we might as well tell a joke and have a lovely time.”
Darling by India Knight is published by Fig Tree. India Knight and Nina Stibbe will be in conversation at the Aldeburgh Literary Festival on March 4. For more information about the festival visit aldeburghbookshop.co.uk
