Francis Spufford: ‘It’s taken me this long to be on reasonable terms with my own psyche’

Publishing his first novel at 52 – the tale of a young charmer in 18th-century New York – Francis Spufford says he wishes he’d started writing fiction years ago

Francis Spufford is the author of five books of non-fiction and has been long- or shortlisted for prizes in science, historical, political and theological writing and writing ‘evoking the spirit of place’. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and teaches writing at Goldsmiths College. Golden Hill is his first novel and vividly evokes 18th-century New York.

After five books of nonfiction why did you turn to fiction?
For a long time I didn’t dare to take on fiction. Golden Hill started off as a book about 18th-century New York but then the characters Smith and Tabitha wandered over from the other side of my brain, and the expository stuff about the city could be sucked into the storytelling. To write fiction requires you to mobilise your emotional resources. I’m a first-time novelist at 52 because it’s taken me that long to be on reasonable terms with my own psyche.

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