Interview with Kathy George - Author of Estella

Estella by Kathy George released on May 3, 2023

See my review of Estella here.

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“Estella is an evocative and mesmerising retelling of Great Expectations, shedding light on a little understood character in one of Dickens’s most beloved novels.”

Harlequin Publishers

About the Author:

Kathy George is the author of Sargasso and Estella, and has a master’s degree in Australian Gothic Literature. She has won the Hal Porter Short Story Award, been short-listed in a string of short story competitions, and been published in numerous literary journals including Meanjin, The Big Issue, Award Winning Australian Writing, and Margaret River Press anthologies. Kathy is represented by Sally Bird of Calidris Literary Agency.

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INTERVIEW WITH KATHY GEORGE

What inspired you to re-tell the epic Great Expectations and from another viewpoint?

Great Expectations is one of my favourite books. I studied it in depth at university and it’s mentioned in my first novel, Sargasso, and it may have been because GE is never far from my thoughts that I began to think about Estella, and whether I could make something of her.   

What was your biggest writing challenge in attempting such a task? Was it difficult to recreate Dickens’s world or any of his characters? Were you concerned how his fans might react to your version of his story?

My biggest challenge was creating an Estella that readers would warm to – in short, love – in spite of her cold-hearted nature. Yes, I was apprehensive regarding how Dickens fans would react – the man was a giant amongst writers of his time – and I therefore thought it best to stay as true as I could to the original story. It wasn’t actually difficult to recreate his world, or his characters. He’s so good you only have to read a page of his work and you become immersed, and I found I could easily imagine how any one of his characters might carry on behaving off the page.

Describe Estella and Pip, their relationship, their personalities and how they met?

Estella and Pip are each about seven years old when Miss Havisham decides Estella needs a playmate and Pip is invited to Satis House to play. Estella, who is extremely beautiful, has already grown into an aloof, hard-hearted and arrogant girl while Pip, who comes from a lowly background, is as innocent as a lamb. Of course, Pip cannot help but fall in love with Estella from the get-go, but she is like a butterfly, always drifting ahead of him. To my mind, this knowledge of one another from a young age is what binds them, for there is no-one else in either of their lives who understands what is at the heart of their souls.

What do you think of Miss Havisham? Why did she adopt Estella?

Miss Havisham is one of literature’s most intriguing and complicated characters, not to say enduring. As a character she is fascinating, but mostly she disappoints me. She’s clearly intelligent but is practically drowning in self-pity and is, of course, nasty. I do feel she could’ve risen above her situation and made so much more of herself but then, of course, we would’ve had a very different Great Expectations! It’s never really properly explained why she adopted Estella. She said that Estella came into her life when she was in darkness but in my opinion Miss Havisham was bored. Bored with herself, and with life. She saw Estella as a plaything to alleviate her boredom, and when Estella arrived and was clearly beautiful, she began to plot how she could avenge herself against men using the child. 

The ending of your story reflects your Romantic viewpoint. Why do you think Dickens chose to end his version another way?

Dickens, in fact, couldn’t make up his mind how to end GE. He wrote at least one other ending and was persuaded that it was too bleak, and wrote the ending we have now. He was above everything else a realist and on numerous occasions got into trouble for depicting the lower social classes of London as he did, and I believe he felt he couldn’t justify a romantic ending. I’d like to enlarge on this, but there will be spoilers!

Who is your favourite villain in Estella and why?

Hmm. I don’t have a favourite. Bentley Drummle is clearly the most despicable but he is such a ghastly man it seems wrong to think of him in terms of being “a favourite”.

The marshes are an important setting. How so?

The marshes, of course, are in GE but they were perfect for Estella since I could use them to show her in a different light. When Estella is on the marshes she is influenced by nature and the beauty around her, and is a different person. A much kinder, more thoughtful person. The marshes also bind her to Pip, they are at the root of both of their beginnings.

Would you agree that Satis House is a house of dashed dreams and disappointments and a shrine to Miss Havisham’s betrayal? How does this spectre of despair affect or shape the life of the young impressionable Estella?

I’d be more inclined to call Satis House a graveyard of sorts. It is described in gothic terms of cobwebs, abandonment, gloom, putrefaction (the wedding cake) and darkness, and clearly this has a negative effect upon the young Estella – which is why the marshes as a place of light and beauty are so important. Satis House is Estella’s home. She’s intelligent enough to work out that she doesn’t like being there, but she doesn’t understand why, thereby causing confusion in a child already bewildered by her situation. Satis House also serves to exacerbate Estella’s feelings of homelessness, of not settling, of being adrift.

Would you like to see Estella on the big screen and who would you want to play her part, as well as Pip’s and Miss Havisham’s?

I have no idea who could play her part; she’s so full of contradictions! And, to be honest, it’s not fair to foist my choices onto a reader. Compare it to seeing a movie based on a book that you’ve already read, and the whole way through you are thinking, No, no, no! All wrong!    

What novel did you read as a child, teen or adult that had the greatest effect on your imagination?

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, which I read when I was about 15. It’s my favourite book. It has everything I want in a novel: setting, atmosphere, tension, horror and romance, not to mention an unforgettable house. Close second would be Wuthering Heights. 

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? What brought that desire into focus?

I’ve been in love with writing since I was at school. Writing was something I was good at. When I became a stay-at-home mum I devoted more time to it, but it wasn’t until I studied creative writing at university at a mature age and subsequently won a short story competition, that I realised I could actually write, and this was what I wanted to do more than anything.

Describe your favourite hero or heroine?

In a word, tortured. Think Heathcliff. I love first-person narratives, and coming-of-age stories. I also love protagonists who are complicated and in turmoil over something.

List three favourite foods that keep you fuelled and inspired while writing.

Food is of little interest when I am immersed in a manuscript! Though I do always have to start the day with coffee … We have a machine and it’s one of the best things we’ve ever bought. I write in the morning, and if the writing’s going well I sometimes don’t remember to eat until 2pm. 

Name four novels you read in the past twelve months that you’d highly recommend?

Sadly, I’m extremely fussy about what I read but these four are gems.  

The Sun Walks Down – Fiona McFarlane; Cold Enough for Snow – Jessica Au; Mothering Sunday – Graham Swift. Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan.  

Are you working on any new projects and are you able to share a little about them?

I can probably divulge that I am following up Estella with another Dickens classic and another reimagining of the life of a female character. In this case, it’s a lesser though no less important character. My publisher has not yet read it so I can’t say too much, but I can tell you that I absolutely loved creating this character’s story.  

Thanks Kathy for being my author guest today! I encourage everyone who is a lover of Great Expectations to get a copy of Estella as you truly will love it as I do.