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Headline:

Prime Suspect writer Lynda La Plante on miscarriages, menopause and the joy she found in her adopted son

Synopsis:

Frankly, I'm expecting Lynda La Plante to be a bit of a hard-boiled harridan. Given that her books and TV dramas - all based on her own scrupulous research - are dark, fast-paced thrillers featuring crack dens, bent cops, murderous psychopaths and, quite often, formidably steely female detectives, I'm assuming an element of professional cynicism will have invaded her private persona.

But here she is confounding all my preconceptions. Sunny, witty and able to extract laughter from even the deepest seams of tragedy, she is also warm, compassionate and a natural raconteuse. She writes with pace, vigour and veracity, culling her chilling storylines from real-life atrocities.

But when she stops work, she snaps shut the compartment of her brain that contains the evil and macabre, and takes on the role she relishes most - being a mum.

Lynda came late to parenthood. She was 57, divorced and, after years of failed fertility treatment and a succession of miscarriages, had all but given up hope of having a child. But then the chance arose to adopt a baby boy. Her adored son Lorcan is now five.

'The moment I held him, he was mine,' she recalls. 'It's such a beautiful emotion when you hold in your arms that child you have dreamed about for so long. Motherhood is better than I could ever have hoped for, because it has made me so absolutely happy. You don't think anything can make you so complete, really. But that's what it is: complete happiness.

'My son has given me a future. Without him I'd have had quite a solitary time, really. I have my nephews, a brother and sister; family. But they don't really know your life as a child does. Lorcan will know that. All my books mean nothing compared to him.'

Publish date:

17 November 2008

Author:

Frances Hardy

Source:

Daily Mail

Media:

Access Interview