Yorkshire


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1535" height="2302" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2.jpg" alt="Marcia Hutchinson" class="wp-image-8452" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2.jpg 1535w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/MHheadshot090326-2-1366x2048.jpg 1366w" sizes="(max-width: 1535px) 100vw, 1535px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tell-us-about-where-you-grew-up-in-bradford-and-how-you-feel-about-the-city-now"><strong>Tell us about where you grew up in Bradford and how you feel about the city now</strong></h3>



<p>Bradford has been through some hard times but it seems to be coming out the other end. I loved Manningham because it was so multicultural, the many varieties of food that were available, the Indian cinema, the Marlborough on Carlisle Road, I never ever went in but I loved hearing the music floating out. I was quite scared of the place when I was growing up there was a lot of National Front activity and then when I was a teenager the Yorkshire Ripper carried out his campaign of terror. However the city and its surroundings have always been absolutely beautiful. </p>



<p>I was involved in the City of Culture and the Bradford Literature Festival and it&#8217;s absolutely wonderful what they&#8217;ve done with the place now, especially pedestrianising the city centre. I live in in Moss Side in Manchester now, in an equally multicultural area, although African Caribbeans and in particular Jamaicans make up a significant proportion of the community.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-some-of-the-challenges-in-writing-something-so-autobiographical"><strong>What are some of the challenges in writing something so autobiographical?</strong></h3>



<p>I see it more as opportunities rather than challenges. Firstly I didn&#8217;t have to do much research other than ransack my memory. But, having said that, it was painful to dredge up some of the more harrowing episodes that made it into the book. <em>The Mercy Step</em> started off as catharsis so at first I didn&#8217;t think it would be good literature. Turns out I was wrong.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-do-you-think-it-has-nbsp-resonated-so-much-with-readers-judges"><strong>Why do you think it has&nbsp; resonated so much with readers/judges!?</strong></h3>



<p>I think that themes in the book are universal. Everyone has at one point felt lost, lonely, excluded and misunderstood and this is how Mercy feels almost all the time. I am also told that my voice is unique. I think one of the great things about red writing later in life is that I&#8217;ve had the time to develop this unique voice.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-you-were-the-first-pupil-from-your-school-to-go-to-oxford-what-did-the-experience-teach-you"><strong>And you were the first pupil from your school to go to Oxford? What did the experience teach you?</strong></h3>



<p>It certainly taught me that I can survive anything! Almost everyone I met at Oxford was from a very different social class to myself but I think growing up in a family where I didn&#8217;t feel I fitted in meant that Oxford was not as strange as it might otherwise have been.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-started-writing-this-book-some-time-ago-what-took-you-so-long"><strong>You started writing this book some time ago. What took you so long?</strong></h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="640" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-640x1024.jpeg" alt="Marcia Hutchinson" class="wp-image-8453" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-640x1024.jpeg 640w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-187x300.jpeg 187w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-768x1229.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-960x1536.jpeg 960w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-1280x2048.jpeg 1280w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/yorkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2026/06/The-Mercy-Step-frontCoverShortlist-135x216.jpg-1-scaled.jpeg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></figure>



<p>I think the first chapters of what finally became <em>The Mercy Step</em> were written at least 20 years ago. I think one of the things that took me so long is that I was not actually planning to write a book, I was just writing short stories. Also I found the book so painful to write at times that I would often break off and write other things. I wrote three other novels before finally finishing <em>The Mercy Step.</em></p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-wrote-that-the-seeds-were-sown-in-an-anonymous-letter-to-the-guardian-about-your-father-s-death-why-did-you-write-the-letter-and-what-did-the-process-do-for-you"><strong>You wrote that the seeds were sown in an anonymous letter to <em>The</em> <em>Guardian</em> about your father’s death? Why did you write the letter and what did the process do for you?</strong></h3>



<p>I think writing the anonymous letter to <em>The Guardian</em> was triggered by the 40th anniversary of my father&#8217;s death. It was published in August 2014, 11 years before The Mercy Step, but when I reread it was almost an exact synopsis of the book. I wrote the letter because I wanted to understand why I had never grieved for my father. The logical thing to do when someone who has tormented you, passes away is to feel relief. And to this day I feel nothing but relief.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-true-the-mercy-step-was-rejected-54-times-what-did-that-experience-do-to-you-for-you-did-it-make-you-more-determined-and-how-did-you-manage-not-to-lose-heart"><strong>Is it true </strong><strong><em>The Mercy Step</em></strong><strong> was rejected 54 times? What did that experience do to you/for you? Did it make you more determined and how did you manage not to lose heart?</strong></h3>



<p>Absolutely true. Cassava Republic was the 55th publisher that my agent sent the book to. I think having done so much therapy and processing, all I could do was just keep writing in the hope that eventually I would get a book published. But the process of being ‘on submission’ is hard on the psyche.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-different-do-you-think-the-book-is-compared-with-how-it-would-be-if-you-d-written-it-earlier-in-your-life"><strong>How different do you think the book is compared with how it would be if you’d written it earlier in your life?</strong></h3>



<p>The book is much better than it would have been if I had written it earlier in my life because writing it in my fifties meant I have perspective, distance and more importantly wisdom that took decades to acquire.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-there-a-right-age-to-write-autobiographical-semi-autobiographical-work"><strong>Is there a right age to write autobiographical/semi-autobiographical work?</strong></h3>



<p>I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any right age, whenever it feels right to you. I wrote bits of <em>The Mercy Step</em> in my forties and fifties but it really didn&#8217;t come together until I worked with my editor when I was in my sixties.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-are-the-writers-you-most-admire-or-emulate-if-any"><strong>Who are the writers you most admire or emulate (if any)?</strong></h3>



<p>I don&#8217;t think I emulate any other writer. I was blown away by Bernadine Evaristo&#8217;s, Booker-winning <em>Girl, Woman, Other</em> and for a while tried writing without punctuation and it was a hideous mess because I don&#8217;t have her talent. I think my writing really took off when I just decided to be myself. The other writer I most admire is Toni Morrison.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-one-book-everyone-should-read"><strong>What’s the one book everyone should read?</strong></h3>



<p><em>Beloved</em> by Toni Morrison is the most striking and impactful book I&#8217;ve ever read.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-ve-said-that-the-most-you-ve-written-in-one-day-is-10-000-words-can-you-describe-your-writing-process"><strong>You’ve said that the most you’ve written in one day is 10,000 words! Can you describe your writing process?</strong></h3>



<p>I have a very strange writing process in that I get an idea, make a few notes and then dictate straight into Google Docs while walking around my local park. These days I aim for 2,000 words in one go which is roughly a chapter, but I did once write 10,000 words in a day. I got to 7000 and thought “this is more than enough, go and have a nice candle-lit bath”. But then in the bath I got my phone out and dictated another 3000 words. I didn&#8217;t write anything for weeks afterwards and realised that I had overdone it so now I limit myself.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-you-tell-us-anything-about-your-next-book-if-there-is-one"><strong>Can you tell us anything about your next book (if there is one)?</strong></h3>



<p>I <em>have</em> written my next book but sadly I cannot talk about it or my agent will kill me!</p>



<p><strong>Marcia Hutchinson will be appearing at <a href="https://www.marsdenmechanics.co.uk/events/author-event-an-evening-with-marcia-hutchinson-the-mercy-step/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marsden Mechanics Institute</a> on Thurs 18 June </strong><br><br><strong><em>The Mercy Step </em>is published by<a href="https://cassavarepublic.biz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Cassava Republic</a></strong><br></p>



<p><strong>IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</strong></p>



<p><strong><a href="https://yorkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/life/people/muddy-meets-lisa-jewell/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Muddy Meets: Queen of crime Lisa Jewell</a></strong><br><strong><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/travel/literary-travel-reading-retreats/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Literary travel: the wellness breaks everyone’s booking right now</a></strong><br><a href="https://yorkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/spotlight/muddy-meets-jim-moir-aka-vic-reeves/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Muddy Meets: Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves)</strong></a></p>


Muddy Meets: Marcia Hutchinson

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