She says that she is incredibly patriotic. “Britain is a political construct, but England is a country. Being patriotic means that I love this space and I share this space and I’m not afraid of the St George’s flag. It’s about reclaiming that feeling of being at one with the land that you inhabit and loving it and the culture and the language.”  She preferred writing a novel to writing stand-up, and thinks she will do another book. “Writing stand-up is so, so me, but with the book, you write it, and then then you put it out there, and people can tweet you and get in touch – but you are detached.”  Still, she loves taking her shows on the road, meeting people with differing views, taking them all in. “We live in this social media bubble and then something [like Brexit] happens and the Left went ‘What, not everyone thinks like me?’  “What did you expect? You’ve called people evil because they have different concerns to you. There’s no way you can connect with those people now. Just step out of your comfort zone and engage.”  I reckon it is this passion for connecting that makes her a natural novelist. “That’s why I love being a stand up,” she explains. “I go to a place where I know the audience will be so Tory, so Right-wing. And I will find a common ground with them. I might not change their minds. I’m not there to. But we will get on, and it gives me faith in being human.”
When interviewing a first-time novelist, it is important to ask them how much of their fictional book is based on fact.