Olivia Hayfield had a crazy idea in the shower and then she turned it into a blockbuster book. And then she wrote a sequel. Why not, she said, re-tell the story of Henry VIII as a 20th century media mogul? br /

br /

br /

br /

The end result was first, Wife After Wife, the tale of Harry Rose, a Richard Branson style magnate who’s a lot more likeable than Henry VIII but does manage to notch up multiple wives. One reviewer described it as “rich people behaving badly”, and now there’s the sequel.br /

br /

br /

br /

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and in today’s Binge Reading episode Olivia tells us about Sister to Sister, the story of Harry’s two daughters, paralleling the virgin Queen Elizabeth I and her sister Mary Tudor, rivals for the English throne like the modern-day sisters are rivals to run the media company.br /

br /

br /

br /

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:br /

br /

br /

br /

How Donald Trump helped inspire Wife to WifeHow much has changed for women in 500 years?Making Elizabeth the First a modern mogulCombining high concept fiction and soap operaRemembering Jilly CooperChildren's books a second lovebr /

br /

br /

br /

Where to find Olivia Hayfield br /

br /

br /

br /

Website: https://www.oliviahayfield.com/br /

br /

br /

br /

Facebook: @suecopseyauthor  br /

br /

br /

br /

 Twitter: @suecopseybr /

br /

br /

br /

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suecopsey1/br /

br /

br /

br /

What follows is a near as transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.br /

br /

br /

br /

But now, here’s Olivia.br /

br /

br /

br /

Jenny Wheeler: Hello there, Olivia and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.br /

br /

br /

br /

Olivia Hayfield: Good morning. Thank you for having me. I'm delighted to be here chatting books.br /

br /

br /

br /

Introducing Olivia Hayfield, authorbr /

br /

br /

br /

Jenny Wheeler: This is a real novelty because you're in Auckland, in the same city as me. That happens very rarely in these podcasts and we are both back in a very short lockdown. Hopefully, it's going to be rescinded before the end of the week, so we're stuck at home in a Zoom chat. It's just great.br /

br /

br /

br /

Olivia Hayfield: I was supposed to have my book launch tomorrow, and that's the most appalling timing, so I’m a bit sad about that but hopefully it will be postponed, not cancelled.br /

br /

br /

br /

Olivia Hayfield alias Sue Copsey, authorbr /

br /

br /

br /

Jenny Wheeler: Absolutely. All the arrangements and all the booking of premises and things. How annoying.br /

br /

br /

br /

Olivia Hayfield: I know it is. But these things can't be helped. There are lot of people worse off. I keep telling myself that.br /

br /

br /

br /

Jenny Wheeler: You have done two very popular and clever women's fiction books. You could put them in the category of Rich People Behaving Badly, which is one little tagline a reviewer gave one of them, but you describe them as modern retellings of historical tales. It was a very high concept idea: take Henry VIII as if he was a 21st century womanizing media mogul rather than the King of England. How did that idea form in your mind?br /

br /

br /

br /

Olivia Hayfield: I think, like all the best ideas, it came out of nowhere. If I sit down at my computer and think hard, it doesn't happen. It tends to be when I'm in the shower or when I'm out for a walk.br /

br /

br /

br /

Trump - a modern-day Henry VIII?br /

br /

br /

br /

With the Henry idea, it was back in 2018, and I was thinking about Trump. I was thinking, he's turning into a bit of a tyrant. I think we had just had the whole ‘grabbing women by the pussy’ episode and I was thinking, how is this man still in power? br /

br /

br /

br /