All that jazz

WORDS

Teacher turned novelist Anna Corbett discusses her Cornish upbringing, the inspiration behind her books and why she loves living in Lewisham

which I passed and earned a place in the girls’ grammar school, on the other side of town. There was a handful of us from the council estate. I really stuck out. We used to walk there; the rich girls came in by car and coach from the lovely little houses by the river and the coast. Working-class girls felt segregated.

“These recollections inform the story of my next book, about a little girl called Sarah. I’ve named her after the great Sarah Vaughan.”

Ah, yes, there’s the jazz element. Anna is steeped in it. “I was brought up with jazz, it’s in my blood. All my family play instruments and sing. We had a piano, my dad played, my brother played, my nephew plays and teaches piano. I used to sing, but I don’t anymore.

“In the 1980s, my [now ex] husband ran a rather infamous pub in Brixton called the Atlantic [now Dogstar]. I was teaching during the day, looking after my kids and working behind

“I taught for 33 years, I still miss the children terribly. I qualified as a teacher in a college in Wimbledon, and when I retired, I studied for a degree in English and American literature at Goldsmiths.”

After the degree, she went on to do a master’s in creative and life writing, which gave her the confidence to embark on Masquerade.

Anna is at pains to emphasise that while the book is inspired by a family photograph, it is a work of fiction and not a family history. However, her story has prompted a new family member to step out of the shadows.

“A couple of months ago someone popped up on Facebook – he turned out to be the grandson of the glamorous man in the photograph. He knew nothing about his grandfather’s childhood in Cardiff, nor this huge extended family.

“I have family all over the world, and some are still in Cardiff. We recently had a massive reunion there, more than 100 people turned up. We sent this man in America a photo of the reunion, and since then, he’s been rather quiet.”

Anna laughs at the thought of the poor guy taking fright at the sheer size of his long-lost family – and possibly the overwhelming amount of catching up there is to be done and stories to be told.

“I used to say this to the kids I taught,” Anna says. “Everyone has a family story and I just love stories.”

And if there’s one person who knows how to jazz up a story, it’s Anna Corbett.