Author Ann Cleeves is best known for her Vera Stanhope and Shetland Island book series. Here, the 71-year-old shares her unconventional career path, the true reason she took up writing and how she met her husband, Tim, who passed away eight years ago, leaving her a special gift.
Author Ann Cleaves. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
My paternal grandfather, Arthur, was a Welsh miner. It was exciting staying with him and my grandmother, Dorothy, in south Wales, as there was no indoor bathroom in their terraced house; I’d bathe in a tin bath in front of the fire.
My grandfather was very political and a great reader. He encouraged me to tell and write stories. He said I needed to think about characters. I remember making lists of these fictional characters’ traits.
My father, Donald, was named after Ramsay MacDonald, the UK’s first Labour prime minister. Dad was in the air force, but when he returned from World War II he undertook a teaching qualification, as they were desperate for teachers. He had an absolute passion for reading. Small things brought him joy.
Dad was the head teacher of a tiny village primary school in Hertfordshire and taught me, which wasn’t much fun. We moved to Devon, where I went into secondary school. Dad no longer taught me, which meant I was much more anonymous. It was like the sun coming out.
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I was a teenager at the end of the ’60s. It was a lovely time. Living so close to the beach, it was all beach parties and a slightly hippie outlook on life.
I was in high school when I had my first serious boyfriend. Andy played guitar and we fell passionately in love. Our relationship lasted quite a while, but after sixth form I took a gap year before university and worked in London while Andy did teacher training – and then dumped me. I was absolutely heartbroken as I thought I’d be with him forever.
I had a few boyfriends at Sussex University, but nobody lived up to Andy. I was studying literature but wasn’t enjoying it. I decided I could read books anywhere, so I left.
