Discovering Jessica Gilmore’s Fictional World
Wendy reviews books set in Italy. For more articles like this one, subscribe to her Substack channel Italy Writers and get in touch via Sunflower Publishing. Read more.
Few things are as enjoyable as sitting down with the mind behind stories that have already swept you away to sun-drenched vineyards and the vibrant heart of city life. On a mellow evening, I sat down for a chat with Jessica Gilmore—an author whose novels promise not just romance, but a generous helping of wit, warmth, and the kind of emotional insight that lingers long after the final page. As editor at Sunflower Publishing, a book blogger, and host of creative writing retreats in Italy, I was especially eager to delve into the inspirations behind Jessica’s latest work, and to discover how her own journey has shaped the stories she tells.
Jessica’s writing career is as varied as it is impressive. With more than thirty published books to her name, she began her professional life at Waterstones, before moving through the worlds of marketing and fundraising for charities and universities. Eventually, she fulfilled a lifelong ambition by working in the arts. Recently relocated from York to the Chilterns, Jessica’s days are now filled with writing, dog walks, and, as she admits with a smile, “pretending not to be addicted to reality television.”
Our paths first crossed during a book blog tour for her novel Love at First Sight, published by Orion in July 2024. As someone who delights in reviewing books set in Italy, I was immediately drawn to Jessica’s story, which invites readers on a journey from London and Stockholm to the sun-drenched landscapes of Sicily and Florence.
Falling in Love With Italy—On and Off the Page
Jessica’s affection for Italy is palpable, even if she confesses she hasn’t explored the country as thoroughly as she’d like. “I think my love affair with Italy started, like many people of my age, when I first watched A Room with a View back when I was an impressionable teenager,” Jessica shares. “I hadn’t been to Italy at that point. I did Classics at university and at school, so I knew a lot about ancient Italy and the Romans, but not so much about present-day Italy.”
The film’s impact was profound: “A Room with a View was just one of those very impactful films. It was so romantic, so lush, so clever. I still use lines from it occasionally if I’m out and about. I just loved it.” This cinematic magic soon translated into real-life adventures: “When I first got together with my husband, our first holiday abroad together was to Sorrento. We actually honeymooned in Florence. I wouldn’t say I’ve been as extensively as I’d like to, but it’s somewhere that I’ve been with my family many times and I’ve seen lots of parts of it. There are many parts to explore, and I’ll be doing that in the next few years.”
Bringing Italy to Life: Research, Imagination, and a Dash of Wanderlust
As a resident of Italy myself, I always look for authenticity in novels set here, and Jessica’s descriptions—especially of the Sicilian vineyard on the slopes of Mount Etna—felt vivid and true. Yet, with characteristic honesty, she reveals, “I haven’t actually been to Sicily. My publishers wanted a book set there, and it’s not the first time I’ve had to set a book in places I’ve not been to. Unfortunately, the role of an author isn’t maybe quite as glamorous or as lucrative as we’d like to imagine, and if I had the opportunity to go on research trips to everywhere I wrote about, I wouldn’t make any money!”
She is quick to add, “We’re very lucky in this day and age in that you can research really quite extensively. If I’m writing about somewhere I haven’t been to, I will tend to use a Lonely Planet guidebook, so I’ll have something basic by my side that I use all the time and mark up. But of course, blogs, Google Maps, and I spent a lot of time on aspirational, gorgeous hotel sites. I certainly did that for the vineyard. My Google search history was… and then of course all the adverts for a long time afterwards were sending me to Sicily! I would have gone this summer actually, because I loved where I wrote about so much, but some friends were coming over from New Zealand so we ended up in Croatia instead. But Sicily is now very, very high on my next travel list.”
Layers Beneath the Romance
At first glance, Love at First Sight might appear to be a classic holiday romance—light, escapist, and perfect for a summer afternoon. But Jessica’s novels always offer more than meets the eye. “You can tell from the review, I felt there were so many more layers going on here and themes as well,” I remark, and Jessica agrees: “Room with a View is a novel of self-discovery experienced by a very intelligent and sensitive woman. Was that your starting point?” I ask.
“Yes, it always is for me,” Jessica replies. “The other books I write are mostly for Mills & Boon, and I write for a line which is very heroine-centred. My starting point is always the heroine and her backstory. Once I’ve got an idea of who she is, where her life is right now, and where it ideally would be if certain things weren’t in her way, then I’ve got the story. Then, of course, finding the hero and the story to go with that is a foil to that.”
Jessica was asked by her publisher to set a book in Sicily and to use a certain setup that was not her usual fare. “I kind of had to think about that for a while, how I would approach it. It was all centred on Nora. Once I’d got her clear in my head and thought about where she’d come from, why this setup would work on her, why she’d be susceptible to the things she’s susceptible to, and why she would be able to maybe go along with some things—maybe a little bit self-deluded in certain ways—I had to make that believable.”
Jessica continues, “I needed her to be someone who was quite lonely, although with a great circle of friends, and somebody who was maybe always yearning for something. That was my starting point—someone who was always searching.”
The Importance of Friendship and Realism
One of the novel’s greatest joys is its cast of vibrant friends who surround Nora. Jessica relished the opportunity to bring these characters to life: “I really enjoyed writing this book because her friends play such a pivotal part. They’re so different and so close to her. I had a lot of fun coming up with the different characters, and they sort of changed a little bit over time, obviously, but they were all as distinct to me, even though they kind of show up at the beginning and at the end, and in text messages as Nora very, very early on.”
She adds, “When you write for Mills & Boon, you only have 50,000 words and dual viewpoints, so you’ve literally got 25,000 words for your heroine. You do not have time to give them a close-knit friendship group. So it was really nice to be able to write that and to really make them come alive and give them all their own personalities and their own roles, as opposed to just being Nora’s confidantes.”
Jessica is keen to ensure her heroines are never defined solely by their relationships. “I would consider myself to be a feminist and I’ve raised a daughter, and I’ve never wanted to write heroines whose only goal is marriage without any thought of what goes beyond that, whose only fulfilment is from meeting a man. I’ve always wanted my heroines to get to a place where they would feel that they can tackle anything that life brings them on their own, through that relationship and through what they learn about themselves through that relationship, before I feel they should go and have that happy ending.”
She continues, “There’s always a point when I need them to grow up or to overcome whatever’s been holding them back, and they’re going to be fine on their own if they have to be. They’d rather be with this other person, but they are fine on their own. Once I’ve got them to that place, I can do that, because I think that’s a really important message.”
A Touch of Reality, a World of Imagination
While much of Jessica’s fiction springs from her imagination, she acknowledges the importance of grounding her stories in relatable experiences—particularly the bonds of friendship and the journey towards self-reliance. “That’s the joy of being a writer,” she smiles. “To come up with very, very different scenarios, but always with a thread of truth running through them.”
Nora’s job as an “heir hunter”—tracking down beneficiaries of wills—was a stroke of inspiration. “It kind of came to me as a little bit of inspiration. I wanted her to have a job where she could work from home, mostly independently, but that would also allow her to travel if she needed to. I thought it was a nice way to give her a bit of independence and a unique perspective.”
An Invitation to Escape
By the time our conversation drew to a close, I was left with a lingering sense of wanderlust and a renewed appreciation for the power of fiction to illuminate the intricacies of love, friendship, and self-discovery. Jessica’s novels do more than simply transport readers to picturesque landscapes—they invite us to reflect on our own journeys, to savour the richness of human connection, and to believe in the quiet magic of new beginnings. For anyone seeking stories that resonate long after the final page, Jessica Gilmore’s books offer a truly rewarding escape.
