Jessica Hart

A Sensible Wife

Release Date: 1993

A Little Bit Extra

Another favourite, in spite of its terrible cover!  Obviously, a lot of the background details are based on the time I lived and worked in Jakarta, and I had a very nostalgic time writing it, reliving the sights and the sounds and the smells of Indonesia.  I was living in a castle in Northumberland at the time, looking after a dog, which is why the last scene takes place on the beach at Bamburgh.  Deborah’s name comes from a dear friend of mine, who I’d called Debbie for years, but who confided one day that she hated the abbreviated version, Gil’s surname is a nod to Mel Gibson who played Guy Hamilton in The Year of Living Dangerously, and Deborah’s Indonesian friends are named after the staff I worked with in Jakarta, including Deden, who bought my motorbike when I left (but that’s another story).

Alternative covers: