Rachel and Simon speak with novelist Tracy Chevalier. Tracy moved to Britain from America in the 1980s and worked in publishing before completing an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. She is now the author of ten novels, including "Girl With a Pearl Earring", which has sold more than 5m copies worldwide and been adapted into a film and a play as well as a forthcoming opera. We talked to Tracy about her rigorous research process, the usefulness (or not) of the label "historical fiction", and avoiding the temptation to repeat the same trick twice.

You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, on Instagram @alwaystakenotes, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is patreon.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

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