It was a treat to meet Sophie Hardach, the author of The Registar’s Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages, and to learn more about the actual manual that in part inspired her novel.

Sophie was born in 1979 and grew up in Germany. She studied economics and political science at Edinburgh University and the National University of Singapore. After graduating, she worked as a correspondent for Reuters news agency in London, Milan, Tokyo and Paris, where part of her novel is set. Here, she tells us what keeps her in Paris, a little bit about her research, and what she is currently reading.

What brought you to Paris?

I used to work as a correspondent for Reuters news agency and they sent me to all sorts of places – first to Italy, then to Japan. My Japanese was pretty dire so I worked mainly on the editing side during that posting… and after a couple of years I was itching to be back in a reporting job. Paris sounded like the perfect place: after all, France is always in the news. It’s just one of those countries people love to read about, whether it’s a light story about cheese and fashion or a serious piece about social unrest.

What keeps you here?

The beauty of the city – even now I have to pause every time I cross the Seine to admire the view and enjoy that “wow, I live here!” feeling. Also, the pleasure of sharing a bottle of wine with friends in the Buttes Chaumont park. Last year I partly moved to London because my boyfriend works there, but I still come back once a month; the fact that my flat is still a bit of a building site is an excellent excuse. This month I re-sealed the windows!

Can you talk about writing nonfiction as a journalist and fiction as a novelist?

I found it very liberating to come home from a long shift in the newsroom and write fiction. There was that great sense of being able to write anything, regardless of whether it was libellous or biased. When I was offered a publishing deal I was actually surprised that an editor in the UK could be so interested in what I thought of as a niche novel; I assumed the French-German-Kurdish thing would be of limited appeal. Even so, I still worried about getting the facts right. I felt it was my duty as a writer to honour the subject and try to do it justice. Not that the book would ever pass the Reuters accuracy test – it is, after all, a novel – but it was important to me to learn as much as I could about Kurdish culture and politics, about different marital traditions and even migration routes while inventing the story.

What were some of the challenges and rewards of researching your book?

The greatest reward, as well as the greatest challenge, was my trip with a friend to south-eastern Turkey, to the Kurdish areas near the border with Iraq and Syria. It was a fascinating journey and I owe a lot to the local journalists and activists who helped me with my research. If it weren’t for the security situation, this area would be a tourism hot-spot – beautiful towns carved into hillsides, labyrinthine cave cities and ancient monasteries whose inhabitants still chat in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.

What books are on your nightstand?

Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway” and Edward Conlon’s “Blue Blood”, about the adventures of a New York cop. I’m a very promiscuous reader.

What advice would you give to beginning writers?

Write every day, so that you’re ready when inspiration strikes.

What is the best advice you have received?

Enjoy the process! My clever editor told me this when we were editing my first novel. Sales, marketing and reviews may all be somewhat outside of your control; so make the most of writing and editing your book, and remember to take pleasure in the process. Then you won’t feel quite so much at the mercy of the publishing forces.

What’s next?

I’m working on a novel about conscientious objectors in London during the Second World War. It’s a very different book – a historical novel built around a Quaker love triangle.

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