We chat with author Alex Hay about The Queen of Fives, which is set against the most magnificent wedding of the season where a mysterious heiress sets her sights on London’s most illustrious family.
Hi, Alex! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! Thanks so much for having me! I’m a writer living in South London with my husband and a LOT of books. I’ve moved around a fair bit: Cambridge, Cardiff, (Old) York. My debut novel was called The Housekeepers and it came out in 2023. My second is The Queen of Fives and it’s out NOW (woohoo!) – January 2025.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Is it a cliché to say I’ve been reading and writing as long as I can remember? It’s true! I wrote my first ‘books’ aged six, in exercise books bought at the grocery store. I knew, right from the start, that this was my dream job.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Ant and Bee and the ABC. My first chapter book? The Bobbsey Twins.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Everything I read as a kid – E Nesbit, Enid Blyton.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The book I’ve most often given as a gift is Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.
Your latest novel, The Queen of Fives, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A glamorous twisty Victorian con.
What can readers expect?
Big houses, bad families, gaslight and fog, characters who shuffle their identities like packs of cards, deception, desire, royalty, loyalty, and all the dark opulence of a high Victorian con…
Where did the inspiration for The Queen of Fives come from?
I wanted to combine a glorious, crafty con with a smudge of nineteeth-century sensation fiction – desire, doubleness, danger, revenge. My protagonist came first: Quinn Le Blanc, known in her (fictional) underworld as ‘the Queen of Fives’, famed for lifting a fellow’s fortune with five moves in five days. Once I started building her world – her rules, her court, her marks – I was off to the races…
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
So many! Quinn and her faithful lieutenant, the cantankerous Mr Silk. Her targets: the wealthy and enigmatic Kendal family. And their house, this vast, blood-red mansion sitting right in the heart of Mayfair – well, that almost felt like a character itself.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
My plan for the book fell over at about 10,000 words in. I ploughed on, ignoring the pain, for another 10,000 words. But then I had to admit defeat and fling the outline out the window. I went back to page one and started following the story organically, unpeeling layers one by one. My first draft was – therefore – a bonfire! So the biggest challenge was streamlining and finessing and rebuilding the book through successive edits. But I’m really proud of the end result.
With this your second novel, were there any key lessons you learned when it came to writing and the publishing world that helped with The Queen of Fives?
From a writing perspective, I really learned the age old truth that each book is its own beast – the processes that worked beautifully on book 1 might trip you up on book 2, and so on. So really it all comes back to the story – whether you’re at the desk, or on the road, talking to your agent/editor, meeting readers. Story is king! (Actually, queen.)
What’s next for you?
I’m working hard on Book 3. Can’t say too much but it’s an opulent and dangerous world, filled with twists…
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
SO MANY! Jessica Bull’s new Miss Austen Investigates mystery will be great – the first was exquisitely done, so clever and sharp, perfect for Janeites. I adore CL Miller and her Antique Hunter series – Death on the Red Sea is pacy and funny and has a brilliant cast. Emilia Hart’s The Sirens is calling to me. And I absolutely cannot wait for VE Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.
